The Superfund Next Door
Toxins & Mistrust in Atlanta
For the people of Atlanta’s Vine City and English Avenue neighborhoods, life inside a Superfund site isn’t exactly easy. Despite the federal government’s efforts to clean up lead-contaminated soil across more than 600 acres, remediation alone has not been enough to win over residents. With gentrification encroaching from all sides, many who live on the site view the cleanup with a jaundiced eye, suspecting it could push them off the increasingly valuable land where Black Atlantans have lived for nearly a century.
Their reluctance—complicated by additional worries about mold and flooding—has delayed remediation and exposure research efforts in the area. Through the eyes of residents, Inside Climate News explains what it’s like to live with a Superfund next door.
In Atlanta, Work on a New EPA Superfund Site Leaves Black Neighborhoods Wary, Fearing Gentrification
The EPA wants to test soil for lead contamination in two historically Black neighborhoods on Atlanta’s west side. Residents, eyeing the creep of gentrification, worry that the cleanup is part of an effort to push them out.
By Aydali Campa
A Fear of Gentrification Turns Clearing Lead Contamination on Atlanta’s Westside Into a ‘Two-Edged Sword’ for Residents
By Aydali Campa
