Race, environmental justice, and interest group mobilizations: hazardous waste and the case of Sumter County, Alabama

Western Journal of Black Studies, The, Spring, 2007 by Revathi I. Hines

The Seeds of ChemWaste Inc.

The initial purchase of the property to be used as a landfill was initiated by Resource Industries, Inc. In 1977, when this property was being negotiated as a landfill site, the law did not require the investors or the city to initiate a public hearing (Bullard 1993). Moreover, the predominantly Black community of Sumter lacked any Black representation at the state and local level (Bullard, 2000). Resource Industries acquired this property through their political ties with the son-in-law of George Wallace, Alabama's Governor in the seventies.

In 1978, Chemical Waste Management (CWM) purchased this site and opened the nation's largest hazardous-waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility in Emelle, Sumter County. This site has often been referred to the "Cadillac of Dumps" (Gunter and William, 1986). Many residents were unaware that a landfill site was being established in such close proximity to their homes. Rumors of an "industry" floated around Sumter, but the residents remained unaware.

The Environmental Protection Agency had approved the landfill site based on the geographic layout of the community of Sumter County and the sparse population of the village of Emelle. The county lies on top of a rock formation called as the Selma Group. This formation is about 700 feet thick and is supposed to be made up of impermeable marine sedimentary materials. Calculations put the estimated time it would take for the waste to reach the aquifers below at 10,000 years. Moreover, the close proximity to Interstate 59, a railroad, a waterway, and the small population of Sumter County, made this site the most suitable (Bullard, 1993).

CWM is located on 2,400 acres of land. Hazardous waste disposed off at this facility include, furnace dust, paint sludge, heavy metals, industrial solvents, and PCB. CWM disposed up to 800,000 tons of toxic waste annually in the late 1980s, making it the world's largest industrial waste burial site (Gunter and William, 1986)

Grassroots Coalitions and the Sumter Countians Organized for the Protection of the Environment (SCOPE)

The object of grassroots groups has been to persuade regulatory and other agencies to cancel or close a locally unwanted facility or land use. To realize these objectives, grassroots movements mobilize members and resources (Moberg, 2001). The first organized effort against CWM, came in 1978 when a group of employees walked off the landfill citing unsafe working conditions. This walkout was spearheaded by the Minority People's Council, a Black organization (Alley, Faupel, and Bailey, 1995). In response to the walkout, in 1979, people came together to form the Sumter Countians Organized for the Protection of the Environment (SCOPE).

SCOPE which was a largely white organization, called for greater monitoring of the facility, public accountability, and people's right to accurate information (Faupel, Bailey, and Griffin, 1991). However, the efforts by SCOPE were short-lived. Soon, SCOPE was seen as aligning with CWM, citing the need for the landfill. Soon, the organization lost its structure and drive.