...On December 22nd 2008, a holding pond at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plant ruptured, sending 978m gallons (3,702m litres) of ash into a nearby river, where it turned to sludge. That sludge was shipped to Arrowhead, a landfill site [in Alabama]...[A] group of locals are suing Phill-Con, the landfill’s operator…claiming that dust and odours from the ash have made them ill. Phill-Con insists that its operation is in compliance with state, local and federal laws, but calls for stronger regulation have grown...[E]nvironmental groups say coal ash is full of toxic metals and tends to leach into groundwater...Robert Bullard...[head of Environmental Justice Resource Centre at Clark Atlanta University] sees the shipment of waste from one county to a poorer, blacker one as part of a longstanding pattern that sees minority communities disproportionately burdened with hazards...