Tell Our Story.

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For filmmakers
working the story.

B · Regional history

More than a century of history.

Schuylkill County is anthracite country. For more than a century, the coal mined from here was shipped around the world to contribute to the industrial boom. What was once a source of great wealth for the area is now becoming a liability.

Former mining areas are increasingly being targeted as sites for landfills, data centers, and other projects which harm the local environment and provide little benefit to the communities they are placed in.

Residents live with what that means in practical terms: trucks hauling hazardous waste on local roads, dust on the windows, odors, noise, and questions about the drinking water that don't get clear answers. The pattern has been repeating for years — a permit, an expansion, a hearing, a decision that seemed already made before the public was in the room. Anger turns to fatigue. Fatigue turns to silence. Residents have been conditioned to accept that they have no influence over these decisions in their own hometowns.

It is time for that to finally change.

C · From the region

What it looks like.

  • A landfill landscape with scattered debris along a perimeter fence and pine trees beyond.
  • A bulldozer working on an active landfill cell, debris piled along the perimeter fence.
  • A chain-link perimeter fence with bags of trash piled against it on a barren landfill berm.
  • A landfill fire at dusk: an orange plume rises into the deep blue sky over a perimeter fence.

D · Filmmaker FAQ

Common questions.

  • Who is open to be interviewed?

    Real residents from local communities. Names, faces, and unique stories of their personal experiences in the area.

  • How do logistics work — locations, schedule, scouting?

    Schuylkill County is about two hours from Philadelphia or New York. We can tell you where to stay, where to go, and who to talk to once you reach out.

  • Who owns the footage? Are there usage restrictions?

    Your footage is your own. All we ask is for honest representation.

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