A UNC bioethics class teamed up with community residents to demand that Orange County officials close a landfill they feel is harmful to the community's health.
Professor Valerie Ann Kaalund's African-American bioethics class organized a Wednesday press conference at Faith Tabernacle Church on Rogers Road to announce the findings of a study about the effects of the landfill located off Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill.
The class also suggested the damage might be a form of environmental racism because the area is historically made up of middle-class blacks.
Although the study's findings are not conclusive, the class presented a detailed report on the history and location of the landfill and attempted to linked it to various community health problems. The class was divided into several groups, and each group presented its particular findings on specific aspects of the landfill.
Several residents who live near the landfill shared stories of how they claim it has affected them. Residents say their well water supply is contaminated by the landfill's waste, causing illnesses such as kidney failure and cancer.
Bonnie Norwood, a 15-year resident of the community, said she was healthy before moving to the area. She said now she is on disability and had her third cancer surgery last August.
"At least four of my neighbors have died from or gotten cancer," she said. "We don't want to die out here. We came out here to live."
The Rev. Ida McMillan, pastor at Faith Tabernacle, also spoke about the sickness she has experienced and the lack of support the residents have received. "My husband has had kidney failure and chronic illness," said McMillan, who lives next to Faith Tabernacle Church. "Not only are we suffering in this community, we are suffering from support."
But Gayle Wilson, Orange County solid waste director, insists the landfill is up to state standards. "We consider ourselves at the front line of environmental protection," he said.
