Tales of Environmental Racial Injustice in North Carolina
by Gail Powell, Vice President, ICCT
There is no question about it: North Carolina has a sordid history when it comes to issues of environmental justice.
The voices of people of color have been repeatedly ignored in the decision-making process that determines where to build dumps, hazardous waste sites, confined animal feeding operations (CAFO), coal ash pits, and, more recently, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Sometimes minority voices are overruled. In other cases, agencies and corporations fail to communicate development plans with minority communities until late in the planning process, if at all. Moving forward, minority communities must be included in these planning processes. They need and deserve a seat at the planning table. (For reference, see articles 1, 2, and 10 listed at the end of the article.)
Here are just a few of the many stories.
In 1972, the historically Black Rogers-Eubanks community reluctantly agreed to sell 80 acres of land to Chapel Hill for use as a landfill. In return for doing this, they were to receive municipal services such as sidewalks, water and sewer connections, a community center, and a recreation area that was to be created when the landfill was full. Four decades later, many of these promises remained unfulfilled despite an unrelenting legal fight by the community. By this time, contaminated water and air plagued the community. Only in 2014 did Orange County build the community center and begin to extend water and sewer lines to Rogers-Eubanks. (2)
In the early 1980s, seventy miles away, the predominantly Black and impoverished community of Afton in Warren County, a landing place for slaves during Reconstruction, found itself selected as the site for a hazardous waste landfill where highly toxic and carcinogenic PCB-contaminated soil would be buried. In 1982, local protesters were joined by organizers from the NAACP, the United Church of Christ, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The American Environmental Justice Movement was born. Inspired by this and similar situations, the UCC began to research the wider issue of toxic waste placement, and in 1987 issued the report “Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States.” It showed race was more strongly correlated with the placement of hazardous waste facilities than any other factor. Minority communities across the nation began to band together to fight this discrimination. (2, 3)
The predominantly Black neighborhoods of Holly Springs, in Wake County, are surrounded by 10 county landfills. Although Holly Springs makes up 1% of land area in Wake County, 13% of the county’s landfills have been placed there. Ninety percent of these are located within predominantly Black communities. (10)
The Wilmington/New Hanover County region has numerous examples of environmental injustice in its history as well. The largely Black Flemington community battled well water contamination from a leaking coal ash pit nearby. Groundwater was laced with arsenic, boron, and cobalt. In 2013, Duke Energy was fined a record $25.1 million for the contamination. This fine was later reduced to a mere $7 million, plus $3 million to install water lines to the community. None of that money went to residents who were exposed to these toxins. Navassa, another poor and predominantly Black community nearby, is surrounded by more brownfields (previously used industrial lands with suspected soil contamination), and federal Superfund sites than any other municipality in the state. This includes the former Kerr-McGee Superfund site, which was once a creosote wood treatment facility that stored creosote in unlined pits. (4, 11)
What does coal ash waste have in common with CAFOs (large hog and chicken farms)? Both are disproportionately located near low-income communities of color who suffer impaired health because of long-term exposure to contaminated air and water. Both involve hazardous waste stored in open pits that contaminate groundwater, rivers, and streams during heavy rains. Both industries have powerful political connections in North Carolina. These connections have ensured for decades that environmental regulations favor their corporate profits over people’s health. Recently, when the hog industry was challenged with 26 nuisance suits, the NC General Assembly protected the hog industry by capping punitive damages for the residents affected by these farms. (5)
Currently, a new battle of environmental injustice rages in Robeson County, where Active Energy Renewable Power is seeking permits to operate a commercially untested wood pellet technology called CoalSwitch. Traditional wood pellet factories emit tons of hazardous waste and greenhouse gases annually. Air emissions from the CoalSwitch manufacturing process are unknown. Yet Active Energy claims (without any evidence) that its emissions in Robeson County will be insignificant and they should be exempted from an air permit. The surrounding predominantly Native American community of 8,000 has already been besieged by contamination and natural disasters. They suffer high rates of heart and lung disease. They are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as well. Deforestation associated with logging and CO2 emissions from burning the pellets will all contribute to increased global warming. (7)
Still, there are glimmers of hope. The cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline is one of them. The Lumbee Tribe of Robeson County and other poor rural communities in Eastern North Carolina recently celebrated a victory over the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project that was promoted by Duke and Dominion Energy. The Lumbee Tribe was not informed of plans for the pipeline until very late in the planning process. Fortunately, strong public outcry from local communities and environmental groups delayed the pipeline, driving up costs and leading to a decision to halt further development. (8)
In another success story, in 2019, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) ordered Duke Energy to excavate all coal ash impoundments and dispose of this waste in lined pits. The same year, the NCDEQ created the Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board to protect and give a voice to people living in underrepresented communities across the state. These communities are predominantly poor and Black. The board will use a new mapping tool that will help local planners better select the suitability of proposed industrial sites (4). These are all encouraging signs.
North Carolina must do more to reverse the years of systemic environmental injustice it has inflicted on communities of color. As people of faith, it is our responsibility to bring injustice to light and advocate for change. It is time for us to support bold action to prevent these practices in the future.
Links to References:
Diverse leadership is critical in fights for clean air, against climate change
New Environmental Board Gives Voice to Low-Income Neighborhoods
Fracked Gas Project Defeated by Grassroots community & Environmental Justice Activists
Communities of Color Bear the Brunt of Trump’s Anti-Environmental Agenda
Waiting to exhale: Controversial wood pellet plant would burden Lumberton with pollution
Chemicals from coal ash leaching into groundwater near Flemington community
