On December 22, 2008, more than a billion gallons of highly toxic coal ash burst from an impoundment and spilled into the Emory River channel in Kingston, Tennessee, covering approximately 300 acres. A by-product of coal-fired power plants, coal ash contains pollutants such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, and its particles can travel deep into lungs. More than 10 years after the Kingston spill, workers who cleaned up the coal ash at the Kingston site are still suffering the after-effects of exposure, including brain cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia, and are pressing their claims in court. (See Joel K. Borune, Coal’s Other Dark Side: Toxic Ash that Can Poison Water and People, National Geographic (Feb. 29, 2019)) The impacts of this spill, however, stretch far beyond the town and those involved in the cleanup efforts, affecting the lives of hundreds of people across state lines in Uniontown, Alabama, a low-income, predominantly African American community. Ultimately, the fate of this coal ash would demonstrate the failure of environmental and civil rights laws to protect vulnerable communities.

Published Apr 13, 2020

Marianne Engelman-Lado, Camila Bustos, Haley Leslie-Bole, P. L. (2020). Environmental Injustice in Uniontown, Alabama, Decades after the Civil Rights Act of 1964: It’s Time For Action. American Bar Association Human Righst Magazine. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/vol--44--no-2--housing/environmental-injustice-in-uniontown--alabama--decades-after-the/