Emelle, Alabama

[Syrinx]

The latest Fox craze is to tar and feather a man named Van Jones, who occupies a relatively minor position in the Obama administration. They say, he once proclaimed to be a "communist." Maybe it's true, I don't know.

They say he protested the beating of Rodney King. If he did, good on him!

They say Jones doubts the official story of 9/11 and wants more investigation of the incident. I can't say I disagree with him there. The most deadly attack on American soil in history demands intensive investigation. Why not?

But Fox is particularly occupied with Jones' assertions of "environmental raciscm."

Fox is making a mockery of this injustice.

Emelle, Alabama:

In 1978, Chemical Waste Management, a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., purchased a landfill permit for a 300-acre tract of land near the village of Emelle in the center of Sumter County, Alabama. In Sumter County, one of the country's most impoverished regions, one-third of the residents live below the poverty level. Over 65 percent of the residents are Black and over 90 percent of the residents near the landfill in Emelle are Black. Since acquiring the landfill, Waste Management Inc. has dumped millions of tons of hazardous waste on what was once lush farmland, creating the largest hazardous waste landfill in the United States, and possibly the world. Nearly 40 percent of the toxic waste disposed of nationwide between 1984 and 1987 under the federal Superfund removal program ended up at the landfill. The 2,700-acre landfill also sits directly over the Eutaw Aquifer, which supplies water to a large part of Alabama

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

(Thanks to the University Of Michigan for this.)

I remember 60 Minutes doing a story about this years ago, but I can't find it online. If anyone can find it, I'd appreciate it a whole lot. Thanks!

[Syrinx]

1. don't you remember Emelle?

[dgibby]

2. Van Jones, who used to be associated with Color of Change.org,

has been singled out by Glenn Beck for punishment because Color of Change.org ran a successful boycotte against Beck for his racist statements about Obama and because he is an advisor to Obama, so Beck gets 2 for the price of one, so to speak. Fox has joined on the Beck bandwagon, since he's their guy and their bleeding sponsors for his program.

As for Emelle, it is located in Perry Co, Ala, where toxic coal ash/sludge from the collapse of a retention pond in Tenn. was dumped.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090628/news/906279948?Title=An-estimated-3-9-million-tons-of-coal-ash-destined-for-Perry-County-landfill

As for the 60min. program, here's what I found so far:

http://www.grist.org/article/The-enemy-of-the-human-race-Tennessee/

ttp://www.grist.org/article/The-enemy-of-the-human-race-Tennessee/

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2009/aug/05/local-bloggers-be-featured-60-minutes/

http://search.aol.com/aol/search?query=60+Minutes+%2B+coal+ash+dumping&s_it=keyword_rollover&c.userid=4132198435494441665

I Googled key words 60 Minutes + coal ash dumping.

[Syrinx]

3. I haven't looked at the links yet

But thanks for posting!

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. Unfortunately, Emelle is just one of many toxic waste problems for minorities.

Here are a few sources that try to cover the scope of the problem. Van Jones should make a huge map.

"Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007
http://www.ucc.org/assets/pdfs/toxic20.pdf

Links to articles about toxic waste and minorities:
http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/TWARTPressOverview.html

"Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S." (Hardcover)

The text is state-of-the-art in its analysis of health disparities from both domestic and international perspectives. Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States is a welcome addition to the field because it widens access to the complex issues underlying the health disparities problem. "-- Preventing Chronic Disease/CDC, October 2005
"This is a very comprehensive, evidence-based book dealing with the health disparities that plague the United States. This is a welcome and valuable addition to the field of health care for minority groups in the United States."-- Doody's Publishers Bulletin, August 2005


The problem also affects low income areas:

EPA vows to examine impact of hazardous waste on poor communities

Under the Bush administration, hazardous waste recycling plants had a free pass to process more than 1 million pounds of toxic material without federal oversight. In Los Angeles and other areas, such plants are disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities largely populated by non-whites, maps created by Earthjustice show.

Hundreds of hazardous waste recycling facilities in the United States, including 29 in California, have been classified as "damage cases" based on factors such as soil and water contamination that cause lasting health and environmental impacts on the areas that surround them.

Earthjustice said the federal agency's decision to consider race and class in relation to hazardous waste plant locations marks a "sea change" for EPA. But some environmental justice advocates point out that the inequality continues.

For example, coal ash from a spill in east Tennessee last December has been relocated to areas largely populated by black people in Alabama and Georgia, noted Robert Bullard of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

"Shipping toxic waste to communities of color is not green," said Bullard. "It's mean and it's unjust and some of us think it should be illegal."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/07/hazardous-waste-environmental-justice-epa.html

Movementech's Environmental Justice
GIS Projects
http://www.movementech.org/gis/demoanalysis.htm


There are so many toxic waste problems located near minorities it is sickening. Being poor no matter what color is also a factor. The major corporations choose areas where they believe people can't fight them. Van Jones could beat them over the head with a different problem every day, and it would take a long time for him to run out.

[Syrinx]

5. thanks

And thanks for making the point that it isn't really a racial problem, so much as a "class" problem.

And to answer the eternal question "are grits groceries," I would venture "yes." I don't eat them everyday, but a nice casserole of baked grits with cheese is very tasty. Why is polenta a gourmet dish, and grits are redneck chow, when they are essentially the same thing? Shush! I don't want grits to start selling for ten dollars a pound. :)