WFAE Studios

In this hourlong special, we'll hear stories about cancer-causing asbestos left behind after the closing of the Carolina Asbestos Co. in downtown Davidson, North Carolina.

A Charlotte company wants to redevelop the 130-year-old Linden Cotton Mill in downtown Davidson as offices, shops and maybe a brewery or restaurant. But the factory also once made asbestos products, and the five-acre site is contaminated. In Part 3 of WFAE's series Asbestos Town, environmental reporter David Boraks looks at the status of the redevelopment and concern in the historically African American neighborhood around it.

Asbestos contamination from an old factory in Davidson is not just an environmental concern on site. It's also a problem throughout the historically African American neighborhood nearby. Today, in the second of our three-part series Asbestos Town, WFAE environmental reporter David Boraks looks at how Davidson is still dealing with the legacies of its asbestos-producing past, including long-simmering distrust from the Black community.

Here's a familiar story in the Charlotte region: An old brick textile mill is turned into something hip — a brewery, apartments or a food hall. It happens all the time, but attempts to redevelop a 130-year-old cotton mill in downtown Davidson have failed. The problem is cancer-causing asbestos. In Part 1 of our series Asbestos Town, environmental reporter David Boraks examines how asbestos became such a problem there.

WFAE Studios is the podcast where you'll find investigative series, special reports and public conversations.