Study highlights inequality in waste management

A rich man's trash is a poor man's burden.

Results of a UNC study presented Monday to the N.C. General Assembly's joint select committee on environmental justice show that poor and minority communities have a disproportionate share of North Carolina's solid waste facilities.

Researchers from the UNC School of Public Health analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for the communities where permits had been issued by the N.C. Division of Waste Management before 2004.

"Once a community becomes the host of a very large waste facility, it becomes a magnet for other kinds of similar facilities and hazardous industries," said epidemiology professor Steven Wing, who presented the study to the committee.

"They are less attractive places to locate clean industry, parks, schools, medical facilities and other things that help promote the health of the local population," he said.

The study's results show that landfills are more than twice as likely to be located in communities with minority populations greater than 10 percent.

The study also found landfills are 1.4 times more likely to be located in communities with average house values of less than $100,000.

The select committee was formed as part of a recent law that issued a one-year moratorium on new landfills that went into effect in the summer.

The N.C. General Assembly aims to scrutinize the planning and development of new landfills, focusing on the issues of equity and community health.

Existing landfills rapidly are reaching capacity, creating a demand for new space and calling into question the sustainability of the state's communities.

The Orange County landfill, which opened in 1972, is expected to reach capacity by 2010, said Gayle Wilson, director of the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department.

A transfer station that will receive waste and ship it out of Orange County will be constructed before the landfill reaches capacity, he said.

The county commissioners have not decided a location for the transfer station yet. The solid waste authorities have proposed that the station be built on the existing property on Eubanks Road.

Wilson said the area surrounding the landfill is a historically black community with a mix of urban and rural elements.

He said that within a mile of the landfill there are $400,000 houses as well as mobile homes.

Having high-priced homes located near solid waste dumps is not just an Orange County phenomenon. The Durant Road landfill in Wake County borders $500,000 homes, he said.

"It is very common for communities to build exactly up to the border of the facilities as in Charlotte with the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Concord," said Greg Peverall, a consultant for the solid waste industry.

"There are schools, nursing homes and developments right up to the landfill."

He said many communities save money by hiring private companies to build their landfills.

"A lot of communities find that in order to not spend 10 to 20 million to build landfills, and instead use it for schools, they ask a private enterprise to come in and build it for them."

Both the Durant Road and Charlotte landfills are newly constructed landfills that have required sanitation technologies including plastic liners and systems to collect methane gas.

However, the study noted that all landfills are potential sources of groundwater contaminants and air pollutants, and that malodors, noise and garbage truck traffic also present health concerns.

Wing added, "If the area stinks, it's not a fun place to go."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.