<p>As the incinerator opens its doors in the 90's, nearby neighborhoods grow increasingly concerned about the smoke and smells coming from the facility. With help from filmmaker Robert Bahar's 1997 documentary "Laid to Waste," we explore Chester's birth into the US environmental justice movement.</p>

As the incinerator opens its doors in the 90's, nearby neighborhoods grow increasingly concerned about the smoke and smells coming from the facility. With help from filmmaker Robert Bahar's 1997 documentary "Laid to Waste," we explore Chester's birth into the US environmental justice movement.

Episode 2 Part 2 - Stormy Weather

Arson, break-ins, death threats, the Ku Klux Klan - all tried to stop her.

Zulene Mayfield is a zealous resident whose family is being poisoned by one of the United Statesâ€™ largest trash incinerators. Her hometown, the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, was invaded by a unique clustering of solid waste facilities in the late eighties and early nineties. Her activism fostered Supreme Court cases which sparked the US environmental justice movement, but after a decade of leading the fight, she vanished in 2001. 

After nearly twenty years of lurking in the shadows, Zulene resurfaces in 2019. She connects with a local podcaster to not only tell her story, but make one thing abundantly clear: she will reclaim Chesterâ€™s right to breathe.

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Arson, break-ins, death threats, the Ku Klux Klan - all tried to stop her. Zulene Mayfield is a zealous resident whose family is being poisoned by one of the United Statesâ€™ largest trash incinerators. Her hometown, the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, was invaded by a unique clustering of solid waste facilities in the late eighties and early nineties. Her activism fostered Supreme Court cases which sparked the US environmental justice movement, but after a decade of leading the fight, she vanished in 2001. After nearly twenty years of lurking in the shadows, Zulene resurfaces in 2019. She connects with a local podcaster to not only tell her story, but make one thing abundantly clear: she will reclaim Chesterâ€™s right to breathe.

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Episode 2 Part 2 - Stormy Weather

Episode 2 Part 2 - Stormy Weather