The sands of time have rendered fear

Blue skies on high no longer clear

Stars were bright whence they came

Now dimmed, obscured, pollution’s haze

Crystal clear our waters gleamed

Fish abundant, rivers streamed

Ocean floors sandy white

Now littered, brown, pollution’s plight

Trees towered high above

Trunks baring professed love

Birds chirping from sites unseen

Gone, paper joined pollution’s team

One can’t blame pollution alone

As they say, you reap what you’ve sown

So let us plant a better seed

Tear out old roots, cultivate, weed

Protect what has been given for free

Our waters, skies, wildlife, and trees

For once they’re gone, don’t you say

Consider yourself warned of that fatal day[ii]

Introduction

The people of Uniontown, Alabama (Al) did not have the chance to head the warning signs of their fatal pollutant days. For activist and protestors, the fight against pollution come in different shapes and sizes. Even though environmental pollution is a global issue, we cannot turn our heads away from the commonality that polluted cities and countries have in common, race and economics. Therefore, by using poetry and its unique ability to expressively communicate with an audience more effectively than a TED Talk or article. This poem allows for a personal connection and concern for environmental justice by expressing the importance of protecting our land and people.

Since the arrival of coal ash hit Uniontown, Al, there has been an ongoing fight between residents and local officials that concern their human rights. However, coal ash is not the only thing polluting this town. Uniontown, Al suffers from another source of pollution which is the overspray of sewage. Residents have argued that these two pollutant factors have been a direct violation of their human rights. For about a decade, the fight for an updated sewage system has been a rocky one. Town officials were given over $31 million dollars in grants to help aid in the upgrade of the town’s sewage facility. However, residents did not agree with the idea of building a wastewater treatment facility in a nearby town because it would prevent people from obtaining work within their city and the idea of sending pollution to another town just was not fair.[iii]

Then, when the coal ash showed up, residents fought for the EPA to not approve the move of the toxic ash. This became another battle lost. The EPA approved for a chemical toxin to be transported to this town which would be said was the cause of more health issues residents were already facing. This makes me ask, are the local politicians responsible for the ongoing pollution in Uniontown, Alabama? Has the town received any more outside funding to fix the economical pollution, if so, where did it go? How is the town fighting back? Just simply, what is going on?

Historiography

Uniontown, Alabama is a small town that was settled in 1818 and as of 2020, there is an estimated population of 2,107 residents. 90.85% of Uniontown’s population consists of Black or African Americans and non-African Americans. Only 9.15% of the town is white. Uniontown is also a part of the Black Belt region of Alabama which was named after the black topsoil.[iv] When the industrial revolution was on the up and up, this small town thrived from the local cotton gins, warehouses, and cotton mills. With these changes came great environmental responsibilities. Fast forward to 2007, the city allowed a company by the name of Arrowhead Landfill to open a location in Perry County. A county that has been struggling with the pollution of outdated sewage systems had to now worry about a landfill. This same landfill will be what connects Uniontown’s environmental issues to Tennessee.

In Roan County, Tennessee there is a fossil plant that spilled about 525 gallons of wet coal ash and this coal ash spill flooded nearly 3,000 acres of nearby land which destroyed about 12 homes and wildlife such as fish in a nearby river. It was later found that the nearby water was the leading cause of birth defects and health problems among workers and residents.[v] In 2010, Alabama’s Department of Environmental Management approved the transportation of the very coal ash, that was causing health problems for Roan County residents, to be transported from Tennessee Valley to Perry County of Uniontown, Alabama. This chemical ash was said to be the cause of illnesses such as brain cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, and other serious injuries to those parts of the Tennessee Emory River clean-up.[vi] How can something life-threatening be cleared for transportation? How was this ash considered to no longer be hazardous based on location? Race and class can easily explain the economical difference in protection between the two counties and states.[vii]

When thinking about global warming and environmental pollution we often find correlations between the two through politics and race. This paper will use primary and secondary sources to identify and explain the aspects concerning the environmental pollution taking place in Uniontown, Alabama as a direct result of political and racial contributing factors. Being that pollution is something that occurs globally, I hope that the provided information will encourage others to at least understand how pollution could be harmful to not only our environment but humans and animals as well.

From an economical focal point, the relationship between politics, race, and pollution has a huge impact on the people of the environment long term. The provided research will describe, explain, and suggest the long-term and short-term consequences of the pollution to humans and the ecosystem’s health. By explaining how the found information relates to environmental inequalities and generational pollution without change.

For Uniontown residents, the cause and effect of pollution is an ongoing battle between them, the EPA, and city officials. Starting with the coal ash and ending with their poor sewage installation, they have been the continuous spot for pollution for over a decade now. Hosting over 173 landfills throughout the state.

Scholarly Work

If the pollution is so bad, why are there not more scholars writing about this? Why is it that majority of Uniontown’s pollution problems only exist in articles? A Black Belt Riverkeeper by the name of Nelson Brook stated in an article that, “You take a poor rural area, take advantage of the people and turn their farming land into a dumping ground so a few people can make a profit”[ix] Scholars have taken a racial approach when discussing the pollution of communities such as Uniontown.[x] Connecting pollution to the violation of civil rights and poverty, one may see why Alabama alone is the perfect dumping ground for other states’ waste as well.

“That smell… it makes you want to vomit” is a direct quote from a Uniontown resident who just so happens to be the president of the Black Belt Citizens for Health & Justice[xi], Esther Calhoun. Calhoun is a very known activist for her community and lives nears the Arrowhead landfill. Not enough scholars are discussing places like Uniontown. We can find work on environmental issues and the racial discrimination that takes place when referring to pollution but only about big cities and very little about places like Uniontown, Alabama.

Sewage Problem

One of the biggest sources of pollution in Uniontown is their failed sewage system. Back in 1997, the Southeastern (SE) Cheese manufacturing and processing plant was established in Uniontown, AL. In 2002, this cheese plant was cleared to discharge its waste and runoff water into a nearby creek and Uniontown lagoon. Dumping enormous amounts of wastewater, these nearby water sources quickly became polluted and overfilled.[xii] Uniontown Lagoon not only was being contaminated by the SE Cheese plant, but it was already housing the wastewater from Uniontown residents and businesses. By 2002, a storage pond was developed to hold more wastewater that would spray out the contaminated water through several sprinklers onto the surrounding ground area. This system was an attempt to correct the overflow Lagoon situation but instead, the spraying of gallons of aerosolized wastewater was contaminating not only the surrounding areas but the air as well which resulted in a failed system.

Above we can see a visual of how the overspray process works and its surrounding area. The ground is soaked in the contaminated water and the earth underneath it dies. We see no birds in the sky or animals on the ground.

These open spray systems are the main subjects when looking at the Clean Water Act. This system is alarming because this water leaks into water supplies for nearby animal farms and residents. Can you imagen your animals drinking this water and you later on eating that very animal? Or how about turning on your kitchen sink and you see brownish water or your waste smells funny? How about being afraid to consume your own homegrown food because of the fear of contamination? In most cases, this is what this community faces daily. Some residents are afraid to eat their homegrown fruits and vegetables due to the constant chemical exposure the soil and air receive.

However, that’s not the only concern residents have. For locals, the nearby cemetery is just as important and is in just as much danger as them. Generations of ancestors are at high risk of being destroyed due to this sewage overspray.

Historic African American New Hope cemetery, sacred space threatened by for-profit coal ash landfill in Uniontown, Alabama.

Here we have a young man who seems to be looking for a headstone of a loved one. This graveyard is one of the cemeteries being affected by the pollution from sewage overflow and zoning of the Arrowhead Landfill. The city promised citizens that they would protect their cemeteries, which had been there since the settlement of Uniontown. However, as we can see in this image, the graves are surrounded by weeds, plants, and trees. The ground looks soggy which could explain why the young man is walking on the slabs of concrete and not the field of grass. The smell of the air reminded him of his ancestors before him. Plots covered by weeds and overgrown greenery show the lack of care that this sacred space is given.

This cemetery is located adjacent to the landfill. This one cemetery holds the ancestry of the town. Sharecroppers, plantation workers, and slaves have a resetting place here. The companies promised to protect the cemetery from harm’s way, but residents had to take action into their own hands. Why are there no laws set into place to protect these sacred lands?[xiii] These lands have been physically altered due to the years of pollution they had to bear and still deal with. Headstones have shifted and others are broken, the ground is typically soft and oftentimes muddy, and nature is starting to cover the land to where no one can be found. How would you feel if you could not find your loved one’s grave?

Water Pollution

[xiv]

Throughout history, industries have contributed to water and air pollution the most if not, alone. For Uniontown residents, the pollution of water is one of their biggest issues compared to their air pollution. Being that these systems are failing and starting to runoff into nearby streams and creeks, we must look at the data.  See, when it rains this issue becomes even bigger because nearby farms and houses become flooded with sewage. Destroying crops, plants, and water supply in the process.

SE Cheese plants have been a huge contributor factor to the contamination of the plant. Having witnesses comment that they have seen workers dumping green like sludge into streams of water[xv] explains how the data levels are so high. The enforcement of the Clean Water Act is to ensure sanitary water to protect human health and maintain a clean environment.

Freetown Creek was fouled by sewage overflows on November 20, 2016. Photo by Kimberly Brothers.

However, as we can see in the above image that is not the case for this suffering town and its streams of water. We see water that should be clear running through an area of forest land. The creek is of green sluggish color. Little to nothing can survive in this sort of water. Light trying to seep through the empty spaces to give life to the land. Branches die by dangling from the tree in an attempt to hold on to life. No animals visible or people. The foreground is full of darkness with a little bit of life in the far background that seems to give a little hope for nature. An area where flowers can semi-grow, and grass still exists as green.  The water seems to be draining all the life out of the area it runs through. Like cancer to nature. Spreading throughout the forest, unintentionally killing life around it.

In 2015, Citizens of Uniontown submitted developmental plans to the court that would be an alternative to solving their wastewater problem. In November 2018, USDA announced a $23.4 million grant to address Uniontown’s wastewater treatment system. This grant would cover approximately 75% of the total estimated $31 million cost of the upgrades.[xvi] However, even by being granted the funds to fix this issue, residents still are fighting for things to be done in favor of the town and not somewhere else. The plan consists of a wastewater treatment facility in a nearby town with a 20-mile pipe system that would have wastewater travel from Uniontown to this new facility.

“The funding was put here for Uniontown. It was meant for Uniontown’s citizens, and I feel that the citizens are not getting a good shake out of the deal. Uniontown itself will prosper better with a treatment facility built in the town,” Jones said.[xvii] Jones and other members of the Black Belt organization believe that this new plan is only to benefit the industries within the city. In other words, the BIG BUSINESS.

Air pollution

[xviii]

As seen in the pollution map of Uniontown, a pollutant in the air is just as important and affected as the water. The company that contributes the most to the air quality in Uniontown is the Arrowhead landfill. Since the dumping of coal ash was made residents have been nonstop complaining about awful smells and sky visibility.

“It suffocates me to look at it,”- Esther Calhoun[xix]  said in an interview. Residents complain that the awful smells nauseate them and the fear of getting sick is something they all have in common. They also tell stories about how unpleasant it is to look at.

Coal ash contains heavy metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic.[xx] These chemicals do not only pollute the lungs of humans, but it affects all living things breathing and not breathing. These toxins are absorbed through condensation and smoke that comes from machines. According to The EJSCREEN website, we can see that the pollutants within the air are high and so are other contributing factors.

Because of the constant exposure to air pollution and clay-like grounds from fallen wet ash; the elderly are at higher risk of respiratory problems and children and asthma. Having clean air to breathe in is essential to everyone’s health. The people of Uniontown are developing illness and are convinced that the constant exposure to coal ash is the cause of it. Coal ash contains over 14 different chemicals[xxi] and was deemed hazardous and radioactive before transportation.

Rev. James Murdock is one of the original members of an environmental group called the Concerned Citizen of Perry County which is one of the groups that lost the court fight against the opening of the landfill.[xxii] He is also someone who is anxious about the toxins and radioactive coal ash that is now sitting in the town.

A look at their health

            Uniontown’s residences are not in the best shape. Already facing racial injustices through “genetics” they really stood no chance against the pollution they are suffering. From a city database, I retrieved a summary of the present health conditions the community face.

Eleven percent of Uniontown residents have ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that they had asthma.[xxiii] Some of the people who are a part of this chart have stated in videos and interviews that they were healthy their entire life up until the landfill was placed there and the dump of coal ash.[xxiv] This could be because the landfill sits approximately about 100 feet from people’s porches and front yards. These same residents are the ones who complain the most about the frequent odors, upset appetite, respiratory problems, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. They also complain that fugitive dust from the facility has contaminated their homes, porches, vehicles, laundry, and plantings.[xxv]

What is being done?

            Unfortunately, Uniontown is still battling over its win with the wastewater treatment facility. Although, a judge ordered town members to stop fighting,[xxvi] residents have not given up. They want officials to build the facility in Uniontown because it would provide jobs for plenty of residents instead of giving the work to another nearby community. As of 2020, regulations for coal ash and the improvement of the protections for public health have been presented to a court. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to find ways to make data such as groundwater more understandable.

The court has ruled that all facilities that are contributing to the contamination of groundwater to close. Using terms such as compacted-soil lined or clay-lined surfaces to determine the level of contamination. To correct the problem until the facility can be built, the EPA makes data more accessible and understandable for the public. They are also working on revising the groundwater monitoring system and requirements. As well as revising websites to give more relevant information.[xxvii] Over the years, progress has been slow, but progress has also been made in favor of Uniontown.

Although, the treatment facility has not yet been developed adjustments are continuously being made to accommodate the plans.

Conclusion

            While climate change and the impact of pollution is something the world collectively is aware of, enough is not being done to solve the ongoing issues black and brown communities in poverty face. A lot of adjustments need to be made in order for Uniontown to have a turnaround in its environmental issues and pollution.

For starters, environmental racism needs to be acknowledged and tackled on a national/ global level in an attempt to give countries, states, cities, and communities an equal opportunity in the fight against pollution. For the United States (US) an environmental climate change organization needs to be established by the US Department of Justice. Monitorization amongst communities that suffer in silence needs to be put on the map and given a task force to help members of communities fight against this environmental injustice.

Next, the Environmental task force can prioritize and organize programs that will aid and abed in places where the act of pollution violates the civil rights of the people. It is no secret that the most hazardous materials and waste extractions are dumped in areas where the African American community is the highest.[xxviii]

Therefore, it is my conclusion that the city officials are just as responsible for the excess pollution of this town as the polluting facilities themselves. So far, the town has not received any more funding to go towards the wastewater problem. Instead, the time has been wasted in trying to convince the townspeople that building the facility elsewhere is beneficial to them and not the companies. So, these organization groups continue to fight and push for change.

Promising to protect our ancestors who came before us

But instead, they left their graves untouched and submerge in our own waste as if this is what we wanted for our future selves

A manifestation written by our United States on racial propaganda

Labeling hazardous chemicals toxic for lighter communities but not hazardous enough for our poverty-stricken families

Denied environmental equality

EPA protection

Our civil rights neglected

WE are trying

To continue thriving in these unseen circumstances

Yet something that was generationally expected

Pollution

From the air to the water

Livestock to our places of worship

Our foundation suffers

And suffered

And suffered

Til things begin to crumble, and our bathrooms become more and more like outhouses

I promise you that if I could hear the elders speak

The air would make that be often

But instead

I am here waiting

Fighting

Living

Demanding change for our future children

And grandchildren

History

Culture

For everything ALABAMA!

The Earth around us is struggling to preserve its beauty

The trains keep coming

Our sewage system transforms to fertilizer

And our living doesn’t seem to be getting much older

from continuous exposure

Of cancer-killing particles

To drink feces water.

Help me fix this

Help me fix what they couldn’t

Help me fix this community

Help me fix their narratives

Help their story to get out to the public. Help the residents rebuild their town and take back ownership of their health. Help us use poetry and art to reach the parts of the world where poetry is their best form of communication. Art, activism, and protest, just help the people of Uniontown fight back against the inhuman acts against their civil rights.

ENDNOTES

[i] Esther Calhoun, Uniontown, Alabama residents

[ii] Sylvia Stults, “Warned,” Family Friend Poems, Published October 2015https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/warned

[iii] Dennis Pillion | dpillion@al.com, “Judge Orders Uniontown to Stop Fighting $31M Sewer Fix,” al, May 27, 2021, https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/judge-orders-uniontown-to-stop-fighting-31m-sewer-fix.html.

[iv] BlackFacts.com. “Black Belt (U.S. Region).” Blackfacts.com. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://blackfacts.com/fact/black-belt-u-s-region#.YmaU3C2JmO8.link.

[v] May 19, “The Lasting Damage of the Tennessee Coal Ash Spill,” Scientific American (Scientific American, May 19, 2009), https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tennessee-coal-ash spill/?msclkid=380320d6b9d011eca0b22c73bd3fab25.

[vi] “Good News for Uniontown, Alabama after Years of Legal Battles,” Georgetown Law, accessed May 7, 2022, https://www.law.georgetown.edu/environmental-law-review/blog/uniontown-alabama-legal-battles/.

[vii] “U.S. Census Bureau Quickfacts: Roane County, Tennessee,” accessed May 7, 2022, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/roanecountytennessee/BZA115219.

“Census Profile: Uniontown, Al,” Census Reporter, accessed May 7, 2022, https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US0177904-uniontown-al/.

[viii] “Uniontown Light Pollution Map,” ClearDarkSky Light Pollution Map, accessed May 7, 2022, https://www.cleardarksky.com/lp/UntwnPAlp.html?Mn=apochromatic.

[ix] “’We’re Not a Dump’ – Poor Alabama Towns Struggle under the Stench of Toxic Landfills,” The Guardian (Guardian News and Media, April 15, 2019), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/15/were-not-a-dump-poor-alabama-towns-struggle-under-the-stench-of-toxic-landfills

[x] Robert Traer, Doing Environmental Ethics (Boulder: Routledge, 2018).

[xi] “Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice,” BBCFHJ, accessed May 7, 2022, http://blackbeltcitizens.org/.

[xii] Jon Britton, “Uniontown, Al: The Struggle against Environmental Injustice and Racism,” Liberation News, October 9, 2018https://www.liberationnews.org/uniontown-al-the-struggle-against-environmental-injustice-and-racism/.

[xiii] Engelman-Lado, Marianne, Camila Bustos, Haley Leslie-Bole, and Perry Leung. 2019. “Environmental Injustice in Uniontown, Alabama, Decades After the Civil Rights Act of 1964: It’s Time for Action.” Human Rights 44 (2): 7-11. https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fenvironmental-injustice-uniontown-alabama-decades%2Fdocview%2F2308831340%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626

[xiv] EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) accessed May 8, 2022, https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/.

[xv] Engelman-Lado, Marianne, Camila Bustos, Haley Leslie-Bole, and Perry Leung. 2019. “Environmental Injustice in Uniontown, Alabama, Decades After the Civil Rights Act of 1964: It’s Time for Action.” Human Rights 44 (2): 7-11. https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fenvironmental-injustice-uniontown-alabama-decades%2Fdocview%2F2308831340%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626

[xvi] Engelman-Lado, Marianne, Camila Bustos, Haley Leslie-Bole, and Perry Leung. 2019. “Environmental Injustice in Uniontown, Alabama, Decades After the Civil Rights Act of 1964: It’s Time for Action.” Human Rights 44 (2): 7-11. https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fenvironmental-injustice-uniontown-alabama-decades%2Fdocview%2F2308831340%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626

[xvii] “Judge Orders Uniontown to Stop Fighting $31M Sewer Fix,” al, May 27, 2021, https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/judge-orders-uniontown-to-stop-fighting-31m-sewer-fix.html

[xviii] EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) accessed May 8, 2022, https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/.

[xix] Keith Rushing, “Coal Ash Dump in Alabama’s Black Belt — Another Symbol of Racism’s Staying Power,” HuffPost (HuffPost, February 12, 2017), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coal-ash-dump-in-alabamas_b_9220854.

[xx] Keith Rushing, “Coal Ash Dump in Alabama’s Black Belt — Another Symbol of Racism’s Staying Power,” HuffPost (HuffPost, February 12, 2017), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coal-ash-dump-in-alabamas_b_9220854.

[xxi] “TVA Dumps Toxic Coal Ash in Poor Alabama Town: The Locust Fork News-Journal,” The Locust Fork News-Journal | Pioneering the Web Press Since 2005 — Freedom of the Press is NOT Free, May 14, 2018, http://blog.locustfork.net/2009/08/tva-dumps-toxic-coal-ash-in-poor-alabama-town/

[xxii] “TVA Dumps Toxic Coal Ash in Poor Alabama Town: The Locust Fork News-Journal,” The Locust Fork News-Journal | Pioneering the Web Press Since 2005 — Freedom of the Press is NOT Free, May 14, 2018, http://blog.locustfork.net/2009/08/tva-dumps-toxic-coal-ash-in-poor-alabama-town/

[xxiii] “Health and Nutrition of Uniontown, Al Residents,” Health and Nutrition of Uniontown, AL Residents: Sexual Behavior, Medical Conditions, Reproductive Health, Mental Health, Consumer Behavior, Physical Activity, Oral Health, Taste & Smell, Audiometry, Diet Behavior & Nutrition, and more, accessed May 8, 2022, https://www.city-data.com/health-nutrition/Uniontown-Alabama.html?msclkid=3d1c83decef511ec88693a184e81c66d

[xxiv] YouTube (Now This News, 2017), https://youtu.be/lNik_ZLBsWc.

[xxv] History, Captivating, and Jason Zenobia. Reconstruction Era and Gilded Age: A Captivating Guide to a Period in US History That Greatly Impacted American Civil Rights and an Era of Rapid Economic Growth. Captivating History, 2021

[xxvi] “Environmental Injustice in Alabama’s Black Belt,” Equal Justice Initiative, October 16, 2019, https://eji.org/news/alabama-black-belt-environmental-injustice/

[xxvii] EPA Press Office, EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), accessed May 8, 2022, https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-revisions-coal-ash-closure-regulations-increases-public-access

[xxviii] Robert D. Bullard, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality (London: Routledge, 2019)

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BlackFacts.com. “Black Belt (U.S. Region).” Blackfacts.com. Accessed April 25, 2022. https://blackfacts.com/fact/black-belt-u-s-region#.YmaU3C2JmO8.link.

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Britton, Jon. “Uniontown, Al: The Struggle against Environmental Injustice and Racism.” Liberation News, October 9, 2018. https://www.liberationnews.org/uniontown-al-the-struggle-against-environmental-injustice-and-racism/.

Bullard, Robert D. Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality. London: Routledge, 2019.

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“Environmental Injustice in Alabama’s Black Belt.” Equal Justice Initiative, October 16, 2019. https://eji.org/news/alabama-black-belt-environmental-injustice/.

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