Study Cites Racism at Landfill

Dr. Valerie Ann Kaalund's "African-American Bioethics" class' study claims the Rodgers Road landfill has contaminated the surrounding area's drinking water.

They also claim some residents have suffered from cancer and kidney failure due to the contaminated water.

The class will reveal the findings of its study at 2:30 p.m. next Wednesday at Faith Tabernacle Church, which is located next to the landfill.

Kaalund said the group will demand the landfill be closed on a specific date, and water and sewage lines be installed to the area to replace the well water system.

Senior Jeff Penley, a student in the class, said the county officials have been saying the landfill will close for several years, but nothing has been done.

"We have found that community leaders are extremely complacent when it comes to defining a time it will close," Penley said.

Kaalund said she has been aware of the landfill's effects for many years and her African-American Studies 128 class has been closely examining the issue for the past two semesters.

The class divided into groups to examine different aspects of the landfill, such as mortality rates of residents, soil and water content and developmental illness related to the landfills.

But Orange County Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said the landfill is in compliance with all state and national regulations.

"We have never received a violation," Wilson said. "We consider ourselves on the front line of environmental protection."

Kaalund said she believes the people living in the community surrounding the landfill are victims of environmental racism because the area primarily consists of working-class black residents.

"There is a higher tendency for landfills to go into black communities because there is less fight," Penley said. "It has been an African-American community since before the Civil War."

The class also examined an old slave burial ground, which lies near the landfill. Kaalund said the ground is another example of environmental racism.

"People who are buried there are related to the people who live in the community," Kaalund said. "It devalues the history of the people who live there."

Wilson said that although he cannot see a case for environmental racism, he believes the class is looking at facts only supporting their cause.

"Based on some of the questions that I have been asked, it seems like the study has been tailored to a preconceived notion," Wilson said. "It is an issue of perception."

Rev. Ida McMillan of Faith Tabernacle Church claims that she has been concerned about the landfill since she moved next to the church 20 years ago.

"It affects us greatly," McMillan said. "Lots have cancer or kidney failure. We feel it has come from the water."

But Wilson denies the suggestion of contaminated water.

"Even a superficial investigation of that allegation will prove it is not true. But no one from the class has asked for my data."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.