How Federal Rollbacks Put Black Communities Back at Risk—This Alabama Town is an Example | News

A town of 20,000 where residents pay some of the highest water bills in Alabama, yet fear drinking from their taps, is now at the center of a mayoral race shaped by environmental justice, according to a recent Capital B report. 

The outlet spoke with Carletta Davis — an activist who fought for years to secure clean water for her majority-Black community in Prichard— who is running for mayor, hoping to take the fight to City Hall.

Just last year, Davis was invited to the Biden administration’s first environmental justice summit in Washington, D.C., after securing a $500,000 grant to support local projects. She met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials about the town’s failing water system, where repairs are estimated to cost $400 million. For a brief moment, federal support felt within reach. 

“We were so hopeful because, first of all, there had never been a president that elevated environmental justice to the White House,” she told Capital B.

But within months, the office overseeing those initiatives was disbanded, grants evaporated, and Davis’ momentum collapsed. “For folks like myself who were so entrenched in the work … to have that be ripped from under us, it took me a minute to get my mojo going even just mentally,” she said.

Meanwhile, Prichard’s problems worsened: more than 50 million gallons of sewage have spilled since 2021. The pipes leak so badly that customers are billed for water they never receive, and the system has repeatedly failed safety standards, including a March notice of elevated cancer-linked chemicals. Over 30 percent of residents live below the poverty line, yet some are billed $200 to $2,000 a month, according to Capital B.

“Them taking our largest asset and be able to control the trajectory of our economic growth is suicide city,” Davis said. 

Her campaign — one of nine in the August 26 election — makes her the only candidate with a background in environmental justice. Supporters argue that her federal connections and activist track record position her to press for resources through Congress, the courts, and state agencies.

“I’ve been in the center of the water issue,” Davis said. “That’s going to continue to be my fight.”