"A bribery scandal over contamination cleanup exposes corrupt behavior from trusted leaders. Will the high-level trial and charges bring the neglected community long overdue environmental justice? "

"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- It wasn't easy for Friendship Baptist Church of Collegeville to leave its longtime home.

The congregation had been in the Collegeville neighborhood, on the city's north side, for more than 100 years, pastor Lorenza Huggins said. It had been in its building on 30th Place North since 1961.

But in 2012, members learned the church and grounds had been sprinkled with heavy metals and cancer-causing compounds. The neighborhood was surrounded by mills and furnaces of the steel industry that forged Birmingham, once known as the "Pittsburgh of the South." Soot from smokestacks begrimed local homes for decades.

Much of the congregation had already moved out of the neighborhood, said Huggins, who has led the church since 1999. The pollution discovery was the last straw."

Matt Smith reports for Environmental Health News November 20, 2018. [2]

SEE ALSO:

Part 2: "From Coal Lobbyists To Community Leaders—The Plot To Keep Birmingham Polluted" (EHN) [3]