Promoting Environmental Justice Through a Community-Based Participatory Research Framework: Characterizing Risks Associated with Living in Uniontown, Alabama

Uniontown, Alabama, has been suffering from a differential burden of air pollution due to two distinct sources: the Arrowhead Landfill and the Southeastern Cheese Corporation cheese manufacturing plant. Community members throughout Uniontown have long complained of poor health conditions such as nausea, headaches, sleep deprivation, and reduced quality of life associated with the local activities of these facilities. Ongoing community efforts to address these issues via lawsuits and other litigative action have been unsuccessful. Further, corrupt practices documented within the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) have perpetrated environmental racism and environmental slavery, generating a critical need for a community-based intervention. In fall 2018, we formed a community-university partnership with the Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice (BBC) to provide technical assistance to local residents. We conducted community science training on ambient air pollution monitoring and personal exposure monitoring during meetings at BBC offices, churches, and other venues in the community. Using the community-based participatory research framework, we "inpowered" residents through citizen science training and research on air quality monitoring and documented baseline PM2.5 concentrations for assessing the effectiveness of future mitigative efforts that can be taken by ADEM.