1. Landfill Issues in Escambia County, Florida: Exposing an Environmental Injustice
Affecting the Living Conditions of Disenfranchised Communities
The Rolling Hills C&D Facility (above), located at 6990 Rolling Hills Road,
Pensacola, FL 32505, is a 39.4 acre disposal area surrounded by approximately
2,872 people within a mile of the facility (Health Consultation, 2015).
Environmental justice defines the environment as not only the for-
ests we preserve but the communities where people live, work, and
play (Bullard, 1994). The Multiracial Environmental Movement rose
directly from the Civil Rights Movement and focused on the connec-
tion between race and environmental harm (Bullard, 1993). Robert
Bullard (top left), father of environmental justice, first reported on a
disproportionate level of waste facilities in African American com-
munities in Houston (Cole & Foster, 2001). In 1982, protestors in
Warren County, North Carolina rallied against the dumping of 6,000
truckloads of PCB-soil in their community (top right). Authorities
arrested over 500 people in the community. It was one of the first
major oppositions to a toxic waste landfill (Bullard, 1994).
Rolling Hills is riddled with
violations including:
 Lack of weekly cover
 Unauthorized waste
 High air emissions
 Landfill height
 Proximity to households
Annie McWilliams’ yard (left) is
touched directly by Rolling Hills.
During the floods of April 30th,
2014, contaminated water rushed
into adjacent homes as a result of
unlined landfills and a poorly es-
tablished berm (Savage, 2014)
Willie Lawrence (left) finds step-
ping outside of his home in
Wedgewood difficult. Law-
rence’s respiratory problems
have worsened since Rolling
Hills C&D was established.
Wedgewood was originally a place for financially stable African Ameri-
cans during times of segregation in the mid-20th century (Outzen, 2014a).
Originally intended to be a golf course, the County turned Rolling Hills
into an official landfill on August 16, 2007. Today, Rolling Hills is a pol-
luted, uncovered landfill over 130 feet tall (Final Order, 2015).
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a flam-
mable, colorless, nuisance gas rec-
ognizable by its iconic “rotten egg”
smell. In low concentrations, H2S
can cause irritation of the eyes
nose, and throat. It also causes
mild headaches and trouble breath-
ing in asthmatic individuals (Health
Consultation, 2015). Health alerts
have been issued on multiple occa-
sions where levels sometimes ex-
ceeded 340ppb. The County sug-
gests all people stay indoors and
turn off their air conditioning dur-
ing these events (Johnson, 2014).
Fires in the landfill (above) produced
high levels of H2S
In 2010, tar balls and mats from
the BP oil spill were unlawfully
deposited in the Rolling Hills
Landfill and Longleaf Waste
Management Facility. The oil was
stored in exposed containers
(right) (Savage, 2014)
Over the summer of 2014, Justice Escambia was founded by four
concerned community members. Today, there are over 200 con-
cerned members on their Facebook page (Woods, 2016). They
have been fighting to shut down and remediate the Rolling Hills
landfill as well as six other waste sites in the area. Justice Escam-
bia has collaborated with multiple organizations (top right) to get
their voices heard by the State and County (Morton, 2014). The
community demands to know how Rolling Hills is affecting their
health, and how they can be warned when pollution levels are ex-
ceptionally high (see below) (Horning, 2016a).
A Jerome ® 651 Hydrogen
Sulfide Monitor (left) in-
stalled outside the Wedge-
wood Community Center
that records all amounts of
H2S at least 3ppb (Health
Consultation, 2015).
Sources:
 Bullard, Robert D. 1993. Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots. Boston: South End Press.
 Bullard, Robert D. (ed.). 1994. Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
 Cole, Luke W. & Foster, Sheila R. 2001. From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Move-
ment. New York: New York University Press.
 Florida Department of Environmental Protection. (3 March, 2015). Health Consultation Rolling Hills Landfill Site (Public Com-
ment Draft). Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida: Florida Department of Health Division of Disease Control and Health
Protection.
 Gloria Horning, personal communication, January 25, 2016a
 Johnson, Rob. (22 July 2014). Pensacola neighborhood draws pollution inspection. Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, FL.
 LaFanette Soles Woods, personal communication, February 15, 2016
 Morton, Joshua. (31 July 2014). Voices From Wedgewood: Landfills And Pits Effect Residents Personally. WUWF. Pensacola,
FL.
 Outzen, Rick. (25 June 2014a). A Shame Before God: Wedgewood Seeks Environmental Justice. Inweekly. Pensacola, FL.
 Savage, Karen. (15 Sept. 2014). An American Nightmare: The Wedgewood Community. BRIDGE THE GULF. Pensacola,
FL.
Connor D. Wagner & Dr. Gloria G. Horning