The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has ruled that Orange County and its municipalities have not discriminated against residents of the Rogers Road area. A group of those residents had filed a complaint of racial discrimination.
Rev. Robert Campbell, a leader in the Rogers Road community, filed the complaint in February 2008 on behalf of 14 residents of the predominantly black neighborhood. The complaint alleges that the county and its municipalities discriminated against the neighborhood by not providing sewer, water, sidewalks and city transportation, as provided to “the white areas of Chapel Hill.â€
The neighborhood has been home to the Orange County Landfill for more than 35 years. Campbell and other residents say that proximity to the landfill has contaminated their well water, an allegation the county disputes.