This fact sheet details the city of Greensboro’s three proposed options for disposal of contaminated soil from Bingham Park.
Greensboro has released a proposal with three different options for disposal of contaminated soil from Bingham Park: Great Oak landfill, Uwharrie landfill, and White Street landfill. The White Street landfill is the city’s favored choice, as the cheapest and quickest option. However, this plan would simply move the toxic waste from one Black community to another.
The fact that Bingham Park and White Street are so close together is not a coincidence, but rather part of conscious and harmful racism, where racist governments wanted to place toxic landfills in primarily Black communities. To move toxic waste from one Black community in Greensboro to another continues this racist legacy and pattern of sacrificing communities of color as dumping grounds for the rest of the city.
Most landfills are sited in impacted communities, or communities who deal with the effects of pollution or environmental racism. Each of the Bingham Park remediation options have their own environmental justice considerations. However, some communities carry the weight of more burdens than others.