Our Stories

The Latest by Debra Mayfield

Community Partnerships Manager

Debra Mayfield worked with Earthjustice clients and partners to ensure their right to live in a healthy environment. She worked in the Washington, D.C. office from 2012–2015.

William Gibbs and his wife live near the massive coal ash dump in Uniontown, AL.
August 19, 2014

Uniontown Prepares to Demand Justice

By Debra Mayfield  /  Northeast Office

Residents of Uniontown, Alabama prepare for EPA visit to investigate the complaint filed by many of its citizens under the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

December 23, 2013

Five Years Later and the Story of the TVA Spill Continues

By Debra Mayfield  /  Washington, D.C. Office

On December 22, 2008, just after midnight, the town of Harriman, Tennessee woke to the flood of more than one billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge that burst through an earthen dam on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

September 5, 2013

Alabama's Anti-Poison Powerhouse

By Debra Mayfield  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Just when you think our younger generation is distracted by Instagram, “Pretty Little Liars” and Miley Cyrus, the world turns itself upside down, shakes itself around and out comes Cece Durden. Cece is a 17-year-old powerhouse who refuses to sit back and let her community in Alabama’s Black Belt risk be poisoned by toxic coal …

August 15, 2013

50 States United, Redux

By Debra Mayfield  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Despite the logjam in Congress, we know, disillusioned or not, that we must insist that Congress stop turning a deaf ear to us and make industry accountable.

March 8, 2013

Michigan State U Must Be Greener Than Spartan Deep

By Debra Mayfield  /  Washington, D.C. Office

My favorite aunt became a dean at Michigan State back in the early 1980’s. She was a role model for us all, assuming a level of power and influence that most women—especially African American women—had not been able access at that time. She, like many other students and faculty at the time, enjoyed the campus …

March 8, 2013

Florida's Water Is Looking Ashen

By Debra Mayfield  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Though dubbed the Sunshine State, Florida’s lifeblood is water. With its wetlands, high water table, extremely porous soil and intricate ecosystem, the state’s laws are intended to keep its water safe and clean, which is necessary for the state’s very survival. Unfortunately, the state’s regulations are simply not good enough—especially when it comes to coal …

October 4, 2012

Washing Away The Myth Of Clean Coal

By Debra Mayfield

In the latest episode of Down to Earth, our own Jessica Knoblauch interviews Dr. Alan Lockwood, neurologist and author of the new book, The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health. Dr. Lockwood reiterates eloquently what we’ve known for decades: there’s nothing clean about coal. Whether you’re mining it, moving it, washing it, burning …