Fight Rages Over Landfill in South
By MIKE WENDLING
Associated Press Writer
03:33 PM ET 07/09/00
LOWNDESBORO, Ala. (AP) The historic Selma-to-Montgomery voting
rights trail, U.S. Highway 80, runs through rural Lowndes County,
meandering past tracts of dusty farmland, boarded-up gas stations
and sacred civil rights-era ground. Now plans are under way for a solid-waste landfill near the
highway where civil rights marchers demanded black suffrage and
where Detroit housewife Viola Liuzzo was slain by Ku Klux Klansmen
after the 1965 march.
A racially mixed group of developers and county officials,
including some who hold office thanks to the voting rights crusade,
feel the 670-acre landfill is just the thing to jump-start the
economy of one of the state's poorest counties.
But landfill opponents, also a mix of blacks and whites, say a
dump near U.S. 80 would be an affront to the memory of the marchers
and hurt both the environment and a fledgling tourist industry. They're trying to stop the landfill before it receives state
approval, which could come within a month.
``We've got too many people here who don't want this thing,''
said Lowndesboro Mayor J.H. Nichols, who is white. ``This might not
ruin the community in five years or 10 years, but what about 40
years down the road? I might be gone, but what about my
great-grandkids and this big pile of trash?''
Lowndesboro, a small, mostly white town in mostly black Lowndes
County, sits just off U.S. 80. The proposed landfill, which could
handle 1,500 tons of household waste a day, is just outside the
town's boundaries.
Bob Mants, a nearby black resident and chairman of the Lowndes
County Friends of the Trail, was among marchers attempting to cross
the Edmund Pettus Bridge on U.S. 80 in Selma on March 7, 1965. On that day, Alabama state troopers attacked marchers in a
confrontation which later became known as ``Bloody Sunday.'' The
violence led to the Selma-to-Montgomery march two weeks later, and
culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The highway was designated a national historic trail in 1997. ``All those people, everyone who was with us, it's a direct
insult to their memory and what they stood for,'' Mants said. ``No
one would put a dump near Arlington Cemetery or the Washington
Monument.''
Barbara Evans, a white activist who also lives close to the site
of the dump, said landfill opponents have collected 1,500 petition
signatures - in a county of about 12,000 people - and have fired
off letters to state legislators, congressmen, and President
Clinton. Evans said they haven't received much of a response.
``Most of what we've heard from legislators is that it's a local
issue,'' Evans said. ``But it's not just a local issue. It's a
national issue, it's a race issue, it's an environmental issue.'' Where opponents see potentially harmful trash and a snub of
civil-rights history, county officials see economic opportunity. Joe Frank Bell, who is black, is chairman of the racially mixed
Lowndes County Commission. The commission approved the landfill in
1998.
``I think it's going to help out in the garbage situation,'' he
said.
If approved, the landfill could generate from $350,000 to
$500,000 per year in fees for the county under an agreement with
Alabama Disposal Solutions, which will operate it, and will provide
from 12 to 15 full-time jobs. Commissioners say the money and jobs
are sorely needed.
Lanny Young, owner of Alabama Disposal Systems, said the
landfill won't be visible from the highway and that the geology of
the area makes it particularly suitable for waste disposal. ``This is probably one of the best sites in the state, because
of the type of rock and the fact that the landfill will be about
400 feet above the water table,'' Young said.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management will make a
decision on the landfill after a public comment period ends this
week. That decision could come by August.
Even if the landfill is approved, the battle may not be over.
Lowndesboro residents are readying a legal challenge that could end
up in court.
In addition, the San Francisco-based Center for Race, Poverty
and the Environment has filed a complaint against ADEM with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that repeated
granting of permits for landfills in the state's poorer,
heavily-black communities is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights
Act. The Lowndes County landfill is cited in that complaint.
Related Links:
Alabama Department of Environmental Management:
http://www.adem.state.al.us
Bloody Sunday information:
www.cr.nps.gov
Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment:
http://www.crlaf.org/crpe.htm
EPA: http://www.epa.gov/
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