April 12, 2016

Uniontown, AL — Civil Rights Complainants today denounced Green Group Holdings, owners of the Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown, Ala., for filing a lawsuit Wednesday targeting members of Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice. Green Group Holdings’ lawsuit was filed in federal court in Mobile, Alabama.
Black Belt Citizens is a community-based volunteer group fighting to protect the health of community residents living in the shadow of a mountain of coal ash dumped in Uniontown after the coal ash breached a dam in Kingston, Tennessee. Four million tons of coal ash were shipped by rail more than 300 miles to Uniontown, one of the poorest towns in the second-poorest county in Alabama. Green Group Holdings’ suit, which seeks $30 million in damages, seems calculated to intimidate and silence Uniontown residents who have exercised free speech to voice concerns about the effects of Arrowhead Landfill on their community.
Many residents of the largely poor, African American community believe the Landfill has caused numerous harms to the people who live nearby, some of whom live only feet from a mountain of coal ash and garbage. In 2013, residents filed a civil rights complaint raising concerns about health problems, odor, dust, noise, flies, vultures, and other impacts of the Landfill on the enjoyment of their property. The complaint was filed with EPA’s Office of Civil Rights against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), which allows the Landfill to accept waste, including coal ash, from 33 states.
Among the statements highlighted by Green Group Holdings as allegedly false and defamatory were comments by community resident Esther Calhoun, who is quoted as saying that all people should have the right to clean air and clean water. The Landfill’s lawsuit quotes Calhoun as saying, “As a black woman, our voices are not heard. EPA hasn’t listened and ADEM has not listened. Whether you are white or black, rich or poor, it should still matter and we all should have the right to clean air and clean water.”