Uniontown, Alabama's toxic coal ash landfill was the result of environmental racism.
In 2008, over a billion gallons of hazardous coal ash spilled into the Emory River Channel in Kingston, Tennessee. Over a decade later, workers who helped cleanup this spill are still suffering from exposure with various cancers and health conditions. In 2010, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) approved to transport 4 million cubic yards of coal ash from the spill to Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown, Alabama, compromising the health of its predominantly low-income, black (88%) residents. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the toxic coal ash was no longer classified as toxic once it was placed in Uniontown, Alabama, although its black residents opposed this declaration because coal ash is still coal ash and will always remain toxic. Additionally to the health problems Uniontown's minority community has been exposed to, the water in Uniontown has been tested in 2004-2005 with high, unsafe levels of aluminum and lead, residents must travel a great deal to get to hospitals as there is no where near within a 30 mile radius, and there is no transportation system. Systemic racism played a role in Uniontown's toxic coal ash dump.