Ms. Keys took us on a tour of the neighborhood bordering on the Superfund site, and we saw a community as devastated by poverty as any we'd seen. The neighborhoods around the site were composed mostly of visibly substandard housing. Much of it is public housing from the Farmer's Housing Authority. We also learned that new families are moving in to Columbia, not being told by the government of the still-toxic sites around the city. Community members in JPAP have had to look for support outside their local governments and the EPA for support.
Poverty makes the situation even more devistating.
Few of the poor residents can afford to move to a safer area. Both Freedom Riders and JPAP members recognized that the system that has abandoned Columbia in poverty is the same system that disregarded their health in this disaster. After the tour of the community and lunch provided by JPAP, the Freedom Bus left for Jackson, Mississippi.