Defending Uniontown, AL from Toxic Coal Ash

Regional Office / Program

Case Overview

On Dec. 22, 2008, just after midnight, a massive coal ash dump in Kingston, Tenn., burst through a dike, sending more than a billion gallons of toxic waste across 300 acres of riverfront property, damaging and destroying two dozen nearby homes. The owner of the dump, the Tennessee Valley Authority, has since spent $1.2 billion in cleanup costs, but by 2010, only a small percentage of the ash had been cleaned up and Tennessee residents were losing patience.

With the approval of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the TVA chose to move the 4 million cubic yards of poisonous ash 350 miles south and dump it at the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, Alabama, a county that according to the 2010 census is 68 percent African-American and one of the poorest in that state. The community of Uniontown near the Arrowhead Landfill is 88 percent African-American.

In December of 2013, Earthjustice attorneys informed the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights that Earthjustice would be representing six Alabama residents in a civil rights complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funds, including state agencies, from taking actions or implementing policies that have unjustified disproportionate adverse effect on the basis of race. The complaint is against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for reissuing and modifying the landfill’s permit without proper and readily enforceable protections of public health.

Client Esther Calhoun holds a button from the local community group fighting coal ash pollution in Uniontown, AL.
Client Esther Calhoun holds a button from the local community group fighting coal ash pollution in Uniontown, AL. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)

Case Updates

The expansion of ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Refinery in Texas is one of the cases where the EPA failed to investigate civil rights complaints filed more than a decade ago.
March 8, 2016 feature

What You Need To Know About Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination on the basis of color, religion, national origin and gender. The text of the law is thematically organized into eleven sections, Title I to Title XI. Title VI is of particular significance. Find out why.

Annette Gibbs and her husband William
February 17, 2016 Article

Coal Ash Dump in Alabama's Black Belt: Another Symbol of Racism's Staying Power

In Uniontown, Alabama, a mountain of coal ash containing carcinogens and neurotoxins is threatening the town's residents.

Pastor Ron Smith with his mother Ann Smith, retired teacher and community leader, in Ann's office at her home near Tallassee, AL.
October 30, 2015 feature

Righting Civil Wrongs

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the few enforceable civil rights laws that cover environmental actions. And from California to Michigan, low-income communities of color have been waiting years for the EPA to take a stand against environmental racism.