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| The Rev. Randy Kelley speaks to a group at Rising Star United Methodist Church Wednesday about a pending visit to Anniston by advisory committee members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star |
“We were advised there were some major areas of concern related to environmental justice in Anniston, as well as other areas in the state of Alabama,” said Farella Robinson, acting director for the commission’s central region.
The commission is a government entity that investigates, gathers and provides information related to protecting civil rights. Its eight commissioners, appointed by the president and congress, have the power to issue subpoenas and hold hearings, but do not have enforcement authority.
The visit will be part of an environmental justice project that has brought together the commission’s advisory committees for the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Robinson said the committees have decided to meet in Anniston because members of the Anniston community have come forward with information that they feel warrants a closer look.
Rev. Randy Kelley of Rising Star United Methodist Church in Hobson City is on the commission’s advisory committee for Alabama. In August, he brought Angela Martin, an Anniston pediatrician, and Rose Munford, a community activist and claimant in the Tolbert PCBs suit, to a meeting of the Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi advisory committees in Mobile. Martin spoke on the health problems she has seen in the community’s children as a result of contamination, and Munford spoke about issues related to the litigation.
Wednesday, Kelley participated in a teleconference with commission staff and advisory committee members while about a dozen people, including Munford, listened at his church.
“This is the first national organization that deals with racism and social injustice that has taken an interest in the people of Calhoun County,” Kelley said.
He said the environmental summit in April, tentatively scheduled for April 23, will be a chance for people to tell their stories and for the community to have access to the commission’s environmental and legal experts.
Most important, he said, it will give the people a national platform from which to speak.
“That is just wonderful,” Munford said after the teleconference. “I feel like my prayers have been answered.”
Munford said she wants the commission representatives to see with their own eyes the sites that are contaminated and hear with their own ears the voices she tried to speak for at the Mobile meeting. She plans to ask for an investigation by the commission into the handling of the PCB litigation in Anniston and the cleanup.
“I feel for the people, and this is a beautiful community,” Munford said. “If we don’t get a proper cleanup now, every generation that goes forward will be affected.”
Anniston City Councilman Herbert Palmore said he was impressed by the efforts of concerned community members and he hopes they’ll lead to something great for the city and its growth.
“I think it’s about time attention is being paid to the plight of the people,” Palmore said. “The main thing is, we need to come together. We can’t get healing until we get an understanding.”