Locally Unwanted Land Use in Emelle, Alabama

  By Emma Vowels

    In 1978, Chemical Waste Management planned to construct a 300-acre landfill in Emelle, Alabama. A political connection between one of the landfill owners and the previous governor, George Wallace, allowed the Waste Management company to obtain the necessary permits needed to dump waste in this area. Many of the local residents of Emelle did not fully comprehend the purpose of the large site until it was in full operation. Receiving mainly waste from 42 other states, at its peak, the Chemical Waste landfill may have received more than 800,000 tons of waste per year. The landfill has been cited for many environmental impacts, including hazardous onsite and offsite chemical spills, unauthorized radioactive waste dumping, offsite water contamination and much more. Not only a major environmental concern, the Emelle landfill has become a controversy on environmental racism.

            The town of Emelle was selected for the waste site by Chemical Waste Management because of its minority population. In Sumter County where the landfill is located, one third of the residents live below the poverty level. This poor community would be less resistant to the plans of environmental degradation put forth by Chemical Waste Management. In addition, close to ninety percent of the residents living near the landfill site are African American. The Emelle landfill is a prime example of a LuLu, or Locally Unwanted Land Use. This example follows the trend of our nation’s hazardous chemical wastes being dumped in primarily low-income African American, Hispanic, or Native American communities.

            After the establishment and negative impacts of the Emelle landfill, local residents began to protest against the waste site. Through these demonstrations, the Emelle residents attracted national media attention and gained support from larger organizations. Today, the Chemical Waste company is attempting to clean up its image by participating in recycling projects. The waste site has not been shut down, but currently operates on a significantly smaller scale. Only about 120,000 tons of waste per year are dumped at the Emelle site, and there are regulations in place regarding the types of chemicals allowed to be dumped. Unfortunately, with the turn of the economy and the scale back of the landfill, many local residents lost their jobs. Emelle is now considered a dying town, without the boom of the landfill that was fueling job security while poisoning the health of the low-income community. 

Reference: http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/emelle.htm

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emelle,_Alabama#Chemical_Waste_Management_Landfill

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