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JOINT PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For further information contact:
Barbara Evans, 334-284-0555 or
bevans@alabamawatch.org
Susan Copeland,
334-270-0020
September 12, 2005
COMMUNITY STOPS DUMP ON NATIONAL CIVIL
RIGHTS TRAIL
Lowndes County, Alabama: For seven long years the citizens of Lowndes County and
others across the country have fought the placement of a regional landfill
on US Highway 80 between Lowndesboro and Burkville, Alabama. That same
stretch of road is part of the historic 1965 Voting Rights March. It is
fitting that on the 40th year anniversary of that March activist
citizens have finally gotten word that Waste Management is permanently
pulling out of the dump project, ending pending lawsuit.
Attorneys Susan Copeland and Doyle Fuller of Montgomery have
devoted their time and talents during the last 5 years into representing
their clients, the Town of Lowndesboro, and fighting the landfill. Their
tenacity, commitment and attention to detail along with their great legal
skills have finally paid off.
“The lesson here is: don’t let anybody tell you what you
can’t do”, said Barbara Evans, who organized the fight against the dump back
in 1998. The struggle against the dump brought together black and white
citizens and spanned all income brackets. Lowndes Citizens United for
Action (LCUFA) was born from the struggle and still functions today as a
watchdog on Lowndes County government. “We learned that politics was the
reason for the dump, and our open government project and community education
events have put in place citizen activists to make sure we aren’t taken by
surprise ever again”, states Debra Harris, President of LCUFA. Back in
1998, the Lowndes County Commission approved the dump application despite a
public hearing where citizens protested the action. “Without the help of
Attorneys Copeland and Fuller and the Town of Lowndesboro, in particular
former Mayor John Nichols, we couldn’t have pulled it off”, continued
Harris.
While LCUFA and other local residents took the fight to the
streets and to the media, the Town of Lowndesboro hired the lawyers. The
legal action resulted in the Alabama Department of Environmental Management
being issued a temporary stay for all Alabama landfills until a proper and
legal solid waste plan was put into place at the state level.
The fight made the front page of the New York Times and a
spot on National Public Radio. “State and local government wanted the dump
badly”, says Evans. “Who would have thought that a tiny group of people
could win against the state, including the former Governor”, proclaimed
Evans. “It shows what can happen when people are committed and tenacious”.
One of the dump developers was Waste Management lobbyist
Lanny Young, who has pleaded guilty to bribing local officials in Cherokee
County on another landfill deal.
Other groups that worked on the effort are Lowndes County
Friends of the Trail headed by Bob Mants and Montgomery Friends of the Trail
led by Dr. Gwen Patton.
For more information or questions, contact:
Barbara Evans, 334-284-0555 or
bevans@alabamawatch.org
Susan Copeland,
334-270-0020
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