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Size | 1 item (0.424 gigabytes) |
Abstract | Contains video footage documenting protests against dumping contaminated soil in Warren County, N.C. on 15 September 1982. Recorded by Richard Ward, the video includes approximately 35 minutes of footage of the protest march, arrests, and the first group of trucks coming through the demonstration and dumping the contaminated soil. It is the only known video of the protest to surface, to date. The footage has been copied from the original 3/4-inch U-Matic tape. In the summer of 1978, more than 31,000 gallons of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laced transformer oil was illegally dumped along the roadsides of more than 200 miles of North Carolina’s highways. After a four-year battle about what to do with this toxic waste, the state government began transporting more than 60,000 tons of the PCB-contaminated soil to a new landfill that it had sited in a predominantly Black community in Warren County, N.C. On the first day (15 September 1982) that the dump trucks rolled in to dispose of the toxic soil, several hundred community members staged a protest to try to block them. The protest sparked a protracted civil disobedience movement lasting more than six weeks and resulting in more than 600 arrests. The protest has been seen as a watershed moment and a convergence between the civil rights movement and environmentalism, known by many as the "birth of the environmental justice movement." |
Creator | Ward, Richard. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
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In the summer of 1978, more than 31,000 gallons of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laced transformer oil was illegally dumped along the roadsides of more than 200 miles of North Carolina’s highways. After a four-year battle about what to do with this toxic waste, the state government began transporting more than 60,000 tons of the PCB-contaminated soil to a new landfill that it had sited in a predominantly Black community in Warren County, N.C. On the first day (15 September 1982) that the dump trucks rolled in to dispose of the toxic soil, several hundred community members staged a protest to try to block them. The protest sparked a protracted civil disobedience movement lasting more than six weeks and resulting in more than 600 arrests. The protest has been seen as a watershed moment and a convergence between the civil rights movement and environmentalism, known by many as the "birth of the environmental justice movement."
Back to TopContains video footage documenting protests against dumping contaminated soil in Warren County, N.C. on 15 September 1982. Recorded by Richard Ward, the video includes approximately 35 minutes of footage of the protest march, arrests, and the first group of trucks coming through the demonstration and dumping the contaminated soil. It is the only known video of the protest to surface, to date. The footage has been copied from the original 3/4-inch U-Matic tape.
Back to TopDigital Folder DF-70134/1 |
Richard Ward Video Footage of Warren County PCB Landfill Protests, 15 September 1982 |