In This North Carolina Town, Environmental Justice Begins With Community

West Badin is a small, predominantly Black community on the Yadkin River between Durham and Charlotte. It was originally built as part of the racially segregated company town of Badin, founded in the early 20^th century around aluminum production. 

“It’s like a development, don’t even have a stoplight,” says Richard Leak, a longtime resident. “The recreation part is what makes the town. We got a couple of lakes, and we’re known for water recreation, mostly fishing.” 

An Alcoa plant operated there, across from Badin Lake, until 2007. For decades, residents have raised concerns about hazardous waste left behind after the plant shut its doors. Many worked in the plant handling industrial materials that they say were later dumped nearby. 

Leak worked in the aluminum smelter for 37 years, at first replacing burned out carbon anodes used in the production process. “I used to just throw it in the lake sometimes, because I didn’t know that it was a hazard material.”

In response, he and other residents formed Concerned Citizens of West Badin to advocate for cleanup and accountability. Over the years, they’ve accumulated a deep trove of knowledge, including where and how waste was buried.

That lived experience became critical to a Duke environmental and climate justice project launched two years ago. A team from the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, led by Clinic Co-Director Ryke Longest and Staff Scientist Nancy Lauer, partnered with the Concerned Citizens of West Badin and others to document contamination concerns and support cleanup efforts.

“They were good listeners,” Leak says. “Not only were they listeners, they were interested in what we were saying.”

Build Trust First

“We had already established trust with the community before we got the grant,” Longest says. “The hardest thing would be showing up after the fact and saying, ‘Hello, I’ve got a grant.’ Most environmental justice community organizers are very suspicious when a university researcher wants to get involved, in part because they’ve had some bad experiences.”

Longest and his collaborators deepened those relationships through consistent presence, monthly meetings, shared meals and ongoing conversations about community priorities. 

Early on, the Duke team facilitated a community meeting and invited residents to help map sites of concern. Residents identified locations they believed had been used for dumping, adding knowledge not captured in existing records. Project team members used GIS tools to guide testing of soil, sediment and water for pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and metals.

Working with residents helped us better understand where to focus our attention. –Ryke Longest

“We were very concerned that not all disposal practices had been fully documented,” Longest says. “Working with residents helped us better understand where to focus our attention.”

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That community-driven approach has led to tangible outcomes. Last fall, after years of community advocacy supported by Duke’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued Alcoa a strengthened permit requiring more rigorous monitoring of contaminants entering Badin Lake and other waterways.

Leak says the partnership helped validate concerns residents had raised for years.

“When Nancy and Ryke came in, they were the best thing that ever happened to us,” Leak says. “Their testing proved that a whole lot of those chemicals were out there. That gave us a voice to talk to DEQ, based on the scientific evidence. I’m excited about the work that they’re doing, the interest that they showed.”

• Also Read: Environmental Law and Policy Clinic helps secure stronger permit to protect the Yadkin River from water contaminants 

Learn With Communities

The project in West Badin has trained numerous students in community-engaged research. 

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Law students and graduate students from the Nicholas School of the Environment participated in field sampling, community meetings and collaborative analysis, gaining experience translating technical findings into accessible language. Just as importantly, they learned to listen. 

“A lot of times in university settings, we reward people for talking first,” Longest says. “We’re trying to teach them that that’s not how you want to behave in this situation.”

Through reflective assignments and journaling, students were encouraged to think critically about their role as researchers working alongside communities.

Amelia Foley, a Ph.D. student in environmental engineering, served as a student consultant last spring. Her role was to interpret scientific results, relate them to the regulatory limits for contaminants, and help prepare a public comment letter supporting additional remediation efforts.

“We were able to attend several of the Concerned Citizens of West Badin meetings,” Foley says. “Those meetings were led by community members, and we were really just there to listen and sometimes report back on what we had been working on. That was the first time that I really got to work directly with a community.” 

The experience brought lessons about community-engaged research out of the classroom and into practice.

You show up for the community. You build trust. You consider the expertise the community is bringing you. –Amelia Foley

“I really appreciate the mentorship from Ryke and Nancy,” says Foley. “They’re such good examples of community-engaged research. There were so many things that I had read about as best practices and then I saw them do. You show up for the community. You build trust. You consider the expertise the community is bringing you.”

She hopes to continue doing this kind of work after she completes her doctorate.

“What I’m most proud of is getting to connect with the community, contribute to their efforts and apply my scientific expertise to a real-world problem that affects a lot of people,” Foley says. “One thing this work showed me is the purpose of the work that you do is super important. I would love to keep doing community-engaged work.”

Create Capacity in the Community

The project also points to the long-term potential of community-engaged research to build local leadership capacity and launch the next generation of environmental advocates.

“When we started this process, most of the people we partnered with had worked in the Alcoa factory for 25 years,” says Longest. “We started seeing their children and grandchildren coming to the meetings. I think there is a component of capacity building where you can help people see that university relationships can be a meaningful partnership.”

Nicole Eastman earned a Master of Environmental Management from Duke in 2024 and then contributed to the project’s water and soil sampling as the Yadkin Riverkeeper assistant and watershed protection specialist. On July 1 she was promoted and became the organization’s new riverkeeper. 

“I learned so much from working alongside the Concerned Citizens of West Badin,” says Eastman. “Their commitment to protecting the community has been inspiring and their knowledge of the issues is critical to understanding the scope of contamination concerns and advocating for overdue change. Although there is still plenty of work ahead, the partnership has shown the power of combining community leadership, scientific evidence and long-term advocacy. It’s an experience that will continue to shape how I approach my work as Riverkeeper.”

For Leak, the project’s success comes down to the people involved.

“I’m more than honored to stand beside such great people with interest in community,” Leak says. “Everything that they did was professional. And I’m telling you right now, they’re not just doing it because it’s a job. It’s in their heart and I appreciate it.”

About This Initiative

The West Badin project is one of four projects focusing on diverse aspects of climate and environmental justice in the Carolinas chosen by Duke for funding through The Duke Endowment.

Launched in July 2024, the projects address urgent challenges across the state while modeling collaborative research approaches that center community partners and create hands-on learning opportunities for students. Duke’s offices of Durham & Community Affairs, Climate and Sustainability, Faculty Advancement, and Interdisciplinary Programs collaborated on the request for proposals.

Main image: Richard Leak speaks to community members beside Lake Badin. (Photo: North Carolina Environmental Justice Network)