For Naeema Gilyard and other residents of cities in south Fulton County — a mostly Black area west of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — the air they breathe has been a worry for years.
Since 2018, an illegal landfill located near homes, churches and two schools has repeatedly caught fire, spewing thick black smoke into the air. Despite investigations by state and federal environmental regulators and multiple judges’ orders to clean up the dump, it remains a nuisance. As recently as last November, smoke was again observed rising from the smoldering heaps of trash. Read more about JPB Fellow Christina Fuller’s research.