Perry County, Alabama — Deep in Alabama’s Black Belt, Uniontown is a low-income, predominantly African-American town of 1,900 residents.
But for more than a decade, residents have complained about the government’s lack of action to properly regulate the Arrowhead landfill, where large amounts of out-of-state waste and industrial pollution have been brought to their doorstep.
A strong putrid odor lingers in the air along the 973-acre landfill boundary, and residents report health complications including respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
This year, a landfill license issued by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) is subject to renewal, a move strongly opposed by residents.
If renewed, the new permit will allow the landfill to receive up to 15,000 tons of garbage per day from 33 states and last 10 years through 2032.
“Uniontown sees nothing but landfill problems,” said Perry County Commissioner and Uniontown residents, a group advocating for stricter regulation of landfills. Ben Eaton, a member of Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Justice, told EHN. Perry County, where Uniontown is located, receives $1 for every ton of waste that the landfill accepts. Eaton said Uniontown residents don’t think the money is benefiting their devastated community.
toxic coal ash
The Arrowhead Landfill was opened and began operations in 2009 almost immediately after the oil spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Kingston Fossil Mill. The spill spilled 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash into the main waterway of the Emory River. With ADEM’s approval, the coal ash waste was later collected from the river and taken to Uniontown.
A 2018 health survey conducted in the area by Dr. Ajta Amiri of the University of Alabama in Huntsville found that most residents suffer from chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, kidney disease, and respiratory disease.
“We don’t want landfills to close. We know everyone needs to take their trash somewhere. We want landfills to stop taking toxic substances,” Eaton said. Told.
ADEM has been conducting preliminary hearings on permit renewals since April of this year, but in January of last year, it announced that “the current status of the Arrowhead Landfill will require additional requirements to achieve compliance with the permit conditions. “There are no enforcement actions underway,” it said in a statement.
Uniontown residents are still awaiting ADEM’s final decision on landfill permits.
watch a short documentary close to home Above, you can hear from community residents about the ongoing battle.
Meqra Salah is an investigative journalist and graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Previously in Nairobi he worked for the BBC. twitter: @salahiqra
MJ Johnson is a video journalist and writer born and raised in Japan. He holds a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University. She has worked as a local reporter in the Bay Area for the San Francisco Examiner and KQED News, and has recently spent the summer reporting for her team of visuals for The Oregonian, and has been in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. I am a graduate student in graduate school. twitter: MJ Johnson
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