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P a g e 12 o f 2 3 <br /> The following article appeared in the Fayetteville Observer in <br />April of 2021 and highlights the racial inequity of waste disposal <br /> <br />Landfill toxic to Sampson County residents <br />By Danielle Koonce <br />Danielle Koonce, a native of neighboring Roseboro pursuing a <br />doctorate in sociology at the University of Maryland, is <br />researching how the landfill in Snow Hill has frayed the social <br />networks of a once vibrant center of rural Black life and continues <br />to reach its “tentacles” into other areas of the county. <br />“Over a month ago, I had the opportunity to help collect water <br />samples throughout Sampson County through a project <br />coordinated by the Environmental Justice Community Action <br />Network and researchers from Appalachian State. We visited 61 <br />homes throughout Sampson County, so I had the opportunity to <br />hear from a variety of people about life in their neck of the woods. <br />One issue reverberated throughout these predominantly Black <br />communities: the damage and loss of quality life that has been <br />caused by the Sampson County Landfill. <br />The Sampson County landfill has been toxic to the communities <br />that reside near it. We heard story after story of the terrible <br />gaseous smell that emanates from the landfill and seeps into the <br />homes of the residents that live nearby — and even several miles <br />away. We learned that the landfill receives trash from around the <br />state, from as far away as New York City, and even trash that <br />comes in on ship-barges through Wilmington. <br />The residents we talked to were worried. Although many of the <br />residents that live near the landfill are on county water, some are <br />not — which means their wells could be exposed to toxins <br />leaching from the landfill. <br />“Today, the landfill continues to expand and grow, and with it <br />grow the impacts to a growing number of surrounding <br />communities. Adding to it are industrial hog and poultry <br />operations and other sources of pollution that cumulatively cause <br />great harm to public health and disproportionately harm low- <br />income communities and Black and Indigenous communities.” <br />15. Please describe any ways in <br />which low-income or <br />marginalized <br />communities/households were <br />engaged in the creation of this <br />project proposal: <br />Research was done to determine the effect of the landfill on the <br />low-income, disproportionately minority and marginalized <br />communities that are located near the Sampson County landfill <br />(see article above by local researcher Danielle Koonce who <br />worked with researchers form the Environmental Justice <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: AFC9D9B8-B7DD-46DF-8603-54762363FD20