New exhibit examines coal dust pollution in Newport News
Local nonprofit EmPower All is collaborating with The Repair Lab, an environmental justice research lab out of the University of Virginia, to present 'Evidence: Coal Dust in Hampton Roads.' The exhibition will have an opening reception Thursday evening at the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center.
The exhibit features data and archival evidence, including photos and newspaper articles dating back to the 1920s, detailing local coal dust pollution, along with a civic engagement workshop and representative air quality monitors.
Adrian Wood, a multimedia producer with the Repair Lab, said the exhibition is the culmination of research to find residents' stories, including tenants unions fighting to install sprinkler systems in the 1980s — to tamp down coal dust in rail cars — and the first recorded local air quality studies in the 1950s.
'The exhibit is a collection of all the work that came before us,' Wood said. 'I have worked to gather these materials, but it really represents a lot of work that's very wide-ranging, mostly done by the residents of Southeast Newport News.'
Coal dust has been a longstanding issue for Newport News, particularly the Southeast community. Kinder Morgan and Dominion Terminal Associates have some of the largest coal terminals in the country near the neighborhoods, terminals that have operated since the 1880s.
Previous environmental studies focused around coal terminals in Norfolk have not linked coal dust pollution to community health issues. However, a 2005 study showed the Southeast community's asthma rates were more than double city and state averages. Additionally, Newport News ranked ninth in the state for the most asthma hospitalizations in 2023.
Yugonda Sample-Jones, a resident of the Southeast community who is CEO of EmPower All, said continued academic research is proving what her community has known for decades.
Coal dust continues to plague Newport News and Norfolk communities. Residents are skeptical change will come.
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'We know what has been done to our health, who has died from this pollution and what things have been done in the past,' Sample-Jones said.
The state Department of Environmental Quality is conducting an air quality monitoring study that will run through late 2026, but the city recently lost out on a $20 million federal grant to address local coal dust pollution.
Despite the setbacks, Newport News spokesperson Kimberly Bracy said, the city remains committed to finding solutions to mitigate coal dust pollution.
Lathaniel Kirts knew the dangers of coal dust pollution when he lived in Norfolk before seeing the same thing when he moved across the water in 2019.
'You normalize it,' said Kirts, who helped facilitate the exhibit with Repair Lab and will assist in Thursday's civic engagement workshop. 'But then you realize that that is environmental injustice right in plain sight.'
It can be easy for outsiders to ignore the problem if their house isn't covered in dust or their loved one isn't hospitalized from air pollution, said Kirts, who lives next to the Southeast community. However, Southeast is a predominantly Black and low-income community, and Kirts said part of fighting environmental injustice means sharing the stories of those who have been ignored for years.
'So many times, racism is silent, oppression is quiet, but it's so deadly. And that's what coal dust is,' Kirts said. 'It's a silent and physical force that invades us, and then slowly oppresses and kills us. What we're trying to do is highlight those voices in this exhibit to show what's been happening.'
Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037, devlin.epding@virginiamedia.com
When: Opening reception, 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday. Exhibit, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays. Through July 9.
Where: Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center, 2410 Wickham Ave., Newport News
Tickets: Free
Details: downinggross.org; 757-247-8950
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