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Black residents of small North Carolina town demand cleanup from aluminum giant Alcoa

NPR
Published November 22, 2023 at 4:25 AM PST
Protesters gather in front of Badin Lake to demand that Alcoa clean up industrial waste from its unlined landfills. (Courtesy of Zachary Turner)
Protesters gather in front of Badin Lake to demand that Alcoa clean up industrial waste from its unlined landfills. (Courtesy of Zachary Turner)

Badin, North Carolina, was a company town until Alcoa closed its aluminum spelting plant after more than 90 years of operation. But the chemical legacy of the plant lingers, and Black residents are calling for accountability and for Alcoa to excavate industrial waste from its unlined landfills.

Zachary Turner reports.

This story comes to us courtesy of WUNC.

Former Alcoa employee Richard Leak of West Badin stands in front of the Alcoa-Badin Landfill. (Courtesy of Zachary Turner)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.