[9] In 1978, Chemical Waste Management purchased a landfill permit of 300 acres (1.2 km2) approximately 4 miles to the north of Emelle.

[11] Most of the waste disposed of in the United States, due to the Superfund removal program, ended up at the landfill between 1984 and 1987.

[12] Key actors in this struggle were Chemical Waste Management, regulatory agencies, and Alabamians for a Clean Environment.

Regulatory agencies are groups responsible for environmental protection that want to establish facilities that can handle the nation's waste safely.

The Alabamians for a Clean Environment (ACE) is a grassroots environmental group who wants to close down Chemical Waste Management.

[15] Residents and other concerned citizens held a demonstration in Emelle against the Chemical Waste landfill.

The Emelle demonstration marked the first time that blacks and whites in Sumter County joined together in a public protest over any political issue.

Alabamians for a Clean Environment used techniques such as sign waving and name calling to draw attention to their cause.

During the Civil War, this city played a large role in Alabama’s cotton plantation economy and about half of the residents were slaves.

Cotton production kept the Black population in poverty and continued their dependence on the white man.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 brought changes to Emelle, and Blacks were elected to public office in 1978.

Soon the economy began to change as government and business elites were the main people affecting land-use decisions.