Bristol VA-TN: Thousands of Virginians Have Faced Years of Sickness-Inducing Landfill Pollution

- 'Residents of Bristol, Virginia, are reporting intense symptoms due to a city-owned landfill's noxious and toxic fumes.' By Sarah Wade, Southerly. Truthout, Dec. 25, 2021.

Erica Nophlin woke with a sore throat one morning in early November, just as she has many mornings for the last two years. She checked on her two daughters and young cousin; two had the same symptoms. The girls often had headaches, upset stomachs, and throat pain. “It’s like almost every single night,” said Nophlin, a 37-year-old with shoulder-length black curls. Until late November, the four lived in an apartment complex in Bristol, Va., a half-mile from a city-owned landfill in an old quarry that has been emitting noxious and toxic fumes, including hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, and other gases.

The fumes followed Nophlin between errands and greeted her outside her church. They kept the girls from enjoying the colorful playground outside her apartment. They seeped into the apartment, stealing sleep and appetites. Nophlin is not alone. In the past year, the polluted air emitted from the landfill has spread and intensified. Residents have reported intense headaches, nausea, burning eyes and throats, nosebleeds, and other symptoms. A local Facebook group with over 3,000 members is overflowing with stories: One resident reported chest pain and difficulty breathing.

A U.S. Army veteran wears a gas mask to sleep. A mother watches her newborn “[wake] up all [through] the night gagging and coughing.” People regularly leave their homes in the middle of the night to escape or end up calling in sick to work.

Nophlin frequently took the girls to urgent care. Most times, she said, the doctors told her it was probably an upper respiratory infection. But no medicine- allergy or antibiotics- helped. “It’s day after day after day,” she said, her hand chopping with each repetition, “your children telling you how bad their head’s hurting and their throat’s hurting…. This is just out of hand.” There have been nearly 2,500 complaints submitted through an online reporting system the city launched in May, on top of over 6,000 submitted to Smell My City, a pollution tracking app, since January. Residents have launched a grassroots advocacy group, HOPE for Bristol, organized town halls, and met with state officials. One young woman even got in touch with environmental activist Erin Brokovich.

Officials are trying to identify and address the problem. Bristol, Va., city staff and consultants have been repairing and expanding the landfill’s infrastructure for 10 months to better capture emissions. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) investigated the landfill and has issued three notices of violation for recordkeeping and gas well problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted two rounds of air sampling in communities around the landfill. And the city of Bristol, Tenn., which sits just over the state line and shares its main street and downtown area with Bristol, Va., is awaiting a report by a toxicologist they hired to assess the situation for potential litigation...

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https://truthout.org/articles/thousands-of-virginians-have-faced-years-of-sickness-inducing-landfill-pollution/