For the residents of Africatown, a small, historic and almost exclusively African-American community on the edge of Mobile, the day often begins with the noise of heavily laden dump trucks trundling down the its narrow and pockmarked roads. On all sides of the settlement, which was formed by a few dozen would-be slaves from West Africa in 1860, the signs of heavy industry are hard to ignore.

On Telegraph Road, a four mile route between the community and Mobile, there is a mix of abandoned lots, decayed and empty buildings, as well as the remaining factories that continue to operate. The entire area has a distinctly murky look to it, while a small body of water known as Three Mile Creek has trash on it banks and appears lifeless. From the middle of the area, smoke billows into the air from the few remaining smokestacks nearby.

"They pollute the air," claimed Carla Rigsby Varner, a resident of Africatown, while speaking at the weekly community meeting Wednesday.

Africatown heavy industry

While environmental issues around Africatown, also known as Plateau, are nothing new, the recent discovery of what is believed to be the last slave ship to enter the United States has cast new light on the tiny community of a little more than a dozen streets and just a couple of hundred people. Located on a major waterway, the area was developed in the early 20th century to host saw and steel mills, while other industries also flourished.

Kimberly Clark, which manufactures mainly paper-based consumer products, is a stone's throw from Africatown, while multiple steel manufacturers continue to operate in the surrounding area. Hosea O Weaver & Sons, an asphalt manufacturer, backs up on to some residents' properties and is a business that has recently caused most concern. "On days when trucks are leaving the plant, some have covers and some don't have any. If you have a north wind the dust is everywhere," said Varner. "It gets everywhere and you have to breathe it in."

Many of the bigger employers and alleged polluters have since left the area, but residents claim that pollution in the water and ground have caused high rates of cancer, according to a class action lawsuit filed in 2017. Residents contend that International Paper released harmful toxic chemicals into the local environment while also neglecting to properly clean up the site before it relocated nearly 20 years ago.



"Plaintiffs alleged that defendants had released Dioxins, Furans and related chemicals, as well as other hazardous and harmful chemicals and pollutants, from the International Paper property into the air, soil, surface water and/or groundwater of plaintiffs' properties and/or residences," noted the suit, which named International Paper and Bay Area Contracting as defendants.



The companies deny the allegations.





Africatown industry

Since being established in the mid-19th century by natives from Togo and Benin who were illegally brought across as part of the Atlantic slave trade on the Clotilda, Africatown has periodically attracted intrigue. Up until the 1950s, West African traditions and language were still a part of daily life in the area. The last survivor of the journey, Cudjoe Lewis, died as recently as 1935, and his ancestors still live in the area. The Clotilda was set on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence of illegal human trafficking.

The slave trade has been banned in the United States since 1808 and the Clotilda in 1860 may have been the last slave ship to land in U.S. waters. Those brought on that final voyage were soon emancipated and settled in Africatown.

Enthusiasts, scientists and maritime archaeologists have periodically searched for the ship over the years, but it wasn't until the recent cold snap that a discovery was made. Low tides revealed the ship's outline, while large iron pins are now clearly visible from the shoreline and water.

While much of Africatown's history has been forgotten about in recent years, in part because its museum was washed away during Hurricane Katrina in 2008, the possible discovery of the Clotilda a few miles north of Mobile in the Delta has renewed interest.



Africatown's most recent environmental battle was against companies that owned oil storage tanks to the east. There were concerns about which types of oil were being stored and how it was being stored. The city ordinance, which was passed in March 2016, forced companies to keep the oil storage 1500 ft. from properties. It was considered a major victory for Africatown residents.

Africatown.

But according to one of the community's leaders, environmental concerns are less of a worry now.

"Pollution has been an issue for over 100 years in Africatown, but at this particular time we're moving to a more clean air environment because we lost some of the contributing forces, like the International Paper Company and all kinds of sawmills, and things of that nature," said Cleon Jones, Africatown's community leader and former New York Mets player. "We still have Kimberly Clark but they don't process wood the way they used to. Our big fight has been against the oil companies, but I think that's all in compliance now, according to the city and state. It's always been about creating a buffer between our town and the companies, the noise, pollution, trucks."

But as residents slowly solve their environmental concerns, new ones arise. The loss of major industry has meant a downturn in employment opportunities, according to one resident.

"It's sort of like a double edged sword," said Lister Portis, a resident. "When industry was here the community flourished because the people living here were employed at those various businesses, but at the same time we had to live with the fallout from those industries such as pollution and noise.

"But when those industries did leave the area it was not economically good for the community because jobs were lost and people moved out of the community, and supporting businesses that surrounded the community left because they were dependent on the workers from the paper mill to purchase their goods."