... [I]n 2009, Arrowhead Landfill added injury to insult by actively soliciting the cooperation of the Perry County Commission, ADEM, TVA and EPA to dispose of over 4 million tons of toxic coal ash, in spite of the outcry of local residents that the coal ash posed a new very serious health hazard and another environmental injustice to those we were already dealing with. Uniontown citizens were powerless to do anything other than speak out about it, and that is what we did for years. In 2016, Green Group Holdings’ $30 million SLAPP suit was intended to silence us and take our first amendment rights away from us. With the help of the ACLU, we succeeded in getting the SLAPP suit withdrawn.

... When ADEM approves the siting of objectionable facilities like Arrowhead Landfill in proximity to low-income communities of color, cities like Uniontown that are already challenged suffer even more degradation and stigmatization. As long as ADEM and the EPA disregard the health and welfare of the people they are tasked with protecting, and even deny their right to participate in those decisions that directly impact their lives, environmental justice will remain elusive in Alabama and across the nation.