St. Petersburg’s predominantly Black neighborhood of Childs Park has dealt with a pervasive odor for decades.
Its residents organized four years ago to document complaints. Researchers installed air monitors. Preliminary results found that air pollutants exceeded thresholds and could have health effects after long-term exposure.
Residents are now mounting a legal challenge to the business they say is the source of the smell: Howco Environmental Services, a used oil recycling plant in the heart of the neighborhood.
As they appeal to the state and county for attention, former City Council member John Muhammad, now president of the Childs Park Neighborhood Association, asked the city last week to enforce the laws it has on its books to address “nuisance concerns” in the neighborhood. He said the city could review if Howco is in compliance with the city’s water and waste systems, code enforcement and fire marshal regulations.
“This has been going on for a long time,” Muhammad said at a council committee meeting Aug. 27. “The can has been kicked. … We’re looking at what the city can actively do.”
The full council voted unanimously Thursday to approve Muhammad’s request. It directs the city to take stock of what has been done to address concerns since August 2025, coordinate across departments on possible action and report back to the council.
A fire broke out at Howco on Aug. 14. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue noted in a report that the fire was in a chemical lab with explosive chemicals, which were examined by a hazardous material team. No one was inside the plant.
The report said a firefighter became ill while putting out the fire but refused treatment.
Prima Mull, Howco’s general manager, wrote in an Aug. 18 report submitted to the state that the fire was contained to a laboratory area and did not spread to other areas of the complex. She recorded no personnel injuries and wrote that the cause of the fire had not been determined.
A review of Howco’s records with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection show that Hagan Holding Company, doing business as HOWCO, faced regulatory scrutiny last year. The company did not renew its oil and material processing permit on time. State inspectors cited HOWCO for several violations including rusting oil tanks, leaking oil and operating without a permit. The state fined the company $59,311 as part of a consent order after it made corrections.
“HOWCO has been providing used oil recycling services to the community from its current location for over 40 years serving thousands of customers,” said a spokesperson for Carlton Fields, the law firm representing HOWCO, in an emailed statement. “HOWCO always works very closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the County to address all regulatory considerations and maintain its permit compliance.”
Howco currently has a state permit to emit “negligible amounts” of air pollution through its process of recycling used oil, but it does not have a used oil and material processing permit.
Childs Park resident David Sautter filed paperwork with the state to have a hearing to challenge both permits. The state in December said it intended to issue Howco an oil and material processing permit.
“I live very close to the facility and experience frequent and ongoing oil/gas odors, which interfere with my ability to safely enjoy my home, open windows, or spend time outdoors in the neighborhood,” Sautter wrote in a Dec. 15 filing. “The odors cause throat irritation and force residents indoors, impacting quality of life and raising air-quality concerns.”
After several rejections, an administrative court in July allowed the neighborhood association to intervene on Sautter’s behalf. Rachael Curran, a staff attorney with Stetson Law’s Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment, began working on the case pro-bono last year.
In court filings, the state said this week that all parties are available for a five-day hearing in February.
