老澳门开奖结果

MOBILE, Ala. 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 announced today that a settlement agreement has been approved by the federal court in a defamation lawsuit filed by a waste company against four community activists who voiced opposition to a coal ash landfill in their small town.

The 老澳门开奖结果 represented the defendants, all residents of Uniontown, Alabama 鈥� a poor, predominantly Black town with a median per capita income of around $8,000 鈥� who were sued for $30 million by Georgia-based Green Group Holdings because the residents object to the coal ash that the company keeps in a landfill in a residential area of Uniontown.

Under the settlement, the company agreed to permanently drop the lawsuit and committed to addressing future disagreements with community dialogue first rather than litigation. The landfill also agreed to two permanent environmental protections: it will provide the public with notice before the landfill receives any potentially toxic waste products, and the landfill will continue to use the current EPA-approved standards to seal off any future shipments of coal ash.

鈥淣o one should have to fear a multi-million dollar lawsuit just for speaking up about their community 鈥� but our clients did,鈥� said Lee Rowland, a senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淔ortunately, as they do in the face of all injustice, our clients fought back. This settlement reaffirms our clients鈥� 鈥� and everyone鈥檚 鈥� constitutional right to speak out and fight for health and justice in their community. In addition to advocating for community health and justice, our clients also became heroes of the First Amendment.鈥�

In 2009, Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown became the new host for millions of cubic yards of coal ash after it spilled out of a landfill in Tennessee following a catastrophic dike failure. The coal ash in Tennessee contaminated land, rivers, reservoirs, and shore areas surrounding the landfill with arsenic and lead, leading the Environmental Protection Agency to conclude that there was a potential 鈥渋mminent and substantial endangerment to the public health.鈥�

Residents of Uniontown organized in opposition to what they saw as a racial and environmental injustice, speaking out against the risk to their environment and health, as well as the location of the landfill, which is across the street from several homes and next to one of the town鈥檚 historic Black cemeteries.

Some 35 residents filed a complaint with the EPA鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint alleges that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management violated their civil rights by allowing the Arrowhead Landfill to locate in their predominately Black neighborhood without adequate protections for the health of residents or the environment.

Some citizens also organized a concerned citizens鈥� group called Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice, which created a Facebook page that publishes concerns about risks to their environment and health. Green Group sued over the Facebook posts, which included statements such as 鈥渨e should all have the right to clean air and clean water鈥� and 鈥淚t affected our everyday life.鈥�

鈥淚n Uniontown, we are fighting for so much: our health, our environment, clean air, clean water, and access to justice. And if we want to fight, first we need to speak out about what is happening in our community. We鈥檙e not afraid to speak out, and I want people to know that they shouldn鈥檛 be afraid either,鈥� said Esther Calhoun, one of the Uniontown residents Green Group accused of defamation.

The site of the Arrowhead Landfill was once a plantation where Uniontown residents鈥� Black ancestors 鈥� including both enslaved people and tenant farmers 鈥� picked cotton, and some are buried in graves near the site. Some Black residents now say that they are unsure about the location and treatment of their ancestors鈥� remains.

The population of Uniontown is 91 percent Black, and 48 percent live below the poverty line. In addition to being the site of the Arrowhead Landfill 鈥� the biggest municipal waste dump in the state 鈥� it is also the site of a sewage lagoon, catfish farms, and a large cheese processing plant.

鈥淯niontown鈥檚 numerous problems reflect policy failures at every level of government to value Black residents鈥� lives and health,鈥� said Dennis Parker, director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Racial Justice Program. 鈥淎nd perhaps the greatest tragedy is that people like our clients are expected to bear this oppression silently. This settlement reaffirms every activist鈥檚 right to fight for racial and environmental justice in his or her community 鈥� out loud and without fear.鈥�

The defendants in the case are represented by the 老澳门开奖结果; the 老澳门开奖结果 of Alabama; Charles S. Sims and Carl Forbes of the law firm Proskauer Rose; and Alabama attorneys Bill Dawson and Matthew Swerdlin.

The settlement agreement is here:
/sites/default/files/field_document/consolidated_joint_motion_to_dismiss_claims_with_prejudice_and_settlement_agreement_ocr.pdf

A joint statement from all parties to the case is here:
/letter/joint-statement-parties-dismissal-lawsuit

More information and other case documents are here:
/locals-v-landfill