Gallery
While a few of the first images you will see are Ken and Deborah’s personal photos, the majority of the color photos in this gallery were taken by Ohio photographer Mac Owen Shaffer, who visited Warren County on numerous occasions to visually document the events as they unfolded. Mac’s wife, Kathy, generously donated his PCB photo collection to the Ferruccios, and all of these photos are copyright protected. Photos may not be reproduced, published, or distributed without written persmission from Ken and Deborah Ferruccio.
The black & white photos in this gallery were taken by UNC Daily Tarheel photojournalist Matt Cooper Jr., who captured the first day of the PCB protest movement on September 15, 1982. Matt donated his photo collection to Deborah and Ken, and all of these photos are copyright protected. Photos may not be reproduced, published, or distributed without written persmission from Ken and Deborah Ferruccio.
Long lines of protesters marched Warren County's resistance to the PCB landfill into history. Sept., 1982 (MS) Dr. Lowery chats about biased language, as in “little white lies.” Fall 1982. 
Belle Bright waves at the camera as signage speaks for itself.Oct. 1982. Citizens and supporters continued to protest throughout the six-week PCB trucking operation. Oct. 1982Sept., 1982 (MS) Day One: Rev. Donald Jarboe, Rev. Leon White, and Ken Ferruccio lead the PCB marchers. Sept., 15, 1982 
Deborah and Ken Ferruccio Nov., 2021 Three preachers speak at the PCB practice march: Reverend Ramey, White, and Brown. Sept. 13, 1982.
Deborah and Ken, Circa 1972 
The Ferruccio's 1967 truck became the logo for the PCB opposition. 
The log cabin that rooted Ken and Deborah to Warren County. 
The Ferruccio cabin in summer. 
Ken and Deborah, Christmas 1977 Deborah and Laura Bennie Davis, Circa 1978. 
Robert Macon & Charlie Davis make music. July 3, 1977. 
Ken and Deborah were drawn to Warren County's lakes. 
Frances Harris stands by PCB sign in front of her home. Circa 1980. 
PCB map of 14 counties and Ft. Bragg where PCBs were spewed on roadsides. 
An unprecedented multi-racial coalition of citizens joined forces in Warren County. Circa 1979. From 1978-1982, citizens framed their case against the PCB landfill and used the courthouse throughout. 
Ken applied his liberal arts education to the politics of waste disposal. Circa 1980. Gov. Hunt left the PCBs on the roadsides for four years. Almena Mayes and friends sing at fundraiser. Circa 1981. Rev. Luther Brown shares his concerns with Mary Hinton Kerr and others. Circa 1979. An unprecedented coalition fought for environmental protection. Aug. 1982. Young people marched for equal protection. Raleigh, Aug. 1982. Warren County Citizens rally at the Capitol. Aug. 1982. Capitol Rally, hands together. Aug. 1982. Deborah speaks out at a Capitol PCB rally as Golden Frinks looks on. Aug. 1982. Ken, hands raised, is next to Rev. Brown at a Capitol PCB rally. Aug. 1982. Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church was the gathering place for the marches. Sept. 1982. 
Ken speaks to citizens at a dry-run, practice march. Sept. 13, 1982. Three preachers speak at the PCB practice march: Reverend Ramey, White, and Brown. Sept. 13, 1982. 
Ken holds up Gandhi, “How to Enjoy Jail,” just before the first PCB march. Sept. 15, 1982. 
Day one: Rev. Donald Jarboe, Rev. Leon White, & Ken Ferruccio lead citizens to the PCB landfill. Sept. 15, 1982. Citizens and supporters continued to protest throughout the six-week PCB trucking operation. Oct. 1982Sept., 1982 (MS) The march to PCB landfill was two miles. The road to environmental justice never ends. Sept. 15, 1982. Young people are central to envisioning change. These youth were fired up! Sept. 15, 1982. A young protestor affirms his dignity as he holds his No PCB sign high. Sept. 15, 1982. State Highway Patrol and National Guardsmen and the news media await the oncoming marchers. Sept. 15, 1982. 
Governor Hunt spent $787,000 in State Highway Patrol and National Guardsmen. Sept. 15, 1982. 
Rev. White talks with State Police as the marchers arrive at the PCB landfill. Sept. 15, 1982. State Highway Patrol warns PCB leaders they will be arrested. Sept. 15, 1982. 
Ken Ferruccio, Warren Co. Citizens President, is arrested first. Sept. 15, 1982. UCC Rev. Leon White is arrested and escorted to the waiting bus. Sept. 15, 1982. Larry Limer, first President of Warren Co. Citizens, is arrested. Wayne Mosely, behind him, is arrested soon after. Sept. 15, 1982. Protestors drop to the ground after first arrests. Sept. 15, 1982. Warren County Citizens' protests made national news and were transformative. Sept. 15, 1982. Deborah Ferruccio is arrested. Sept. 15, 1982. 
"Troopers escort Deborah Ferruccio as she comforts a tearful girl." Sept. 15, 1982. Victoria Lehman, held back by a trooper's baton, is about to be arrested. Sept. 15, 1982 Warren County students were given excused absences in order to join the protests. Sept. 15, 1982 Arrestees were put on prison buses and taken to the Warren County jail. Sept. 15, 1982. Henry Pitchford, President of the WC NAACP, picks up signs after protestors are arrested. Sept. 15, 1982. A bulldozer begins the dumping operation. Sept. 15, 1982 In order to control the line, State Highway Patrol keep marchers on one side of the road. Sept. 1982 Owen Shearrin waves as she and others march to the PCB landfill. Sept. 1982. Citizens and supporters protest throughout the six-week PCB trucking operation. Oct. 1982. Deborah Ferruccio and sister, Victoria Lehman, made protest signs throughout the movement. Oct. 1982. Opposition to the PCB landfill created lifelong friendships. Here, Owen Shearrin and Florence Sommerville march together. Sept. 1982. Belle Bright waves at the camera as signage speaks for itself.Oct. 1982. Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery speaks at Coley Springs Baptist Church. Oct. 1982. Ken Ferruccio speaks to a TV reporter at a PCB rally. Oct. 1982. 
Dr. Lowery, Rev. White, and Ken Ferruccio lead the march. Oct. 1982. Warren County Citizens marched for their children's future. Sept. 1982. 
Without true unity, there would have been no PCB movement. Sept. 1982. 
Evelyn and Dr. Joseph Lowery, Congressman Walter Fauntroy, Rev. Leon White, Ken Ferruccio, and Dr. Green lead the protest march. Oct. 1982 "Dump Hunt in the Dump" became a rallying cry. Sept. 1982. A protestor appears unwell as she is supported by a fellow supporter. Fall, 1982. Demonstrators chanted messages to Governor Hunt as they awaited arrest. Oct. 1982. Brave citizens lie down in front of a PCB truck. Fall 1982. Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery is arrested. Fall 1982. Ken Ferruccio is arrested. Fall 1982. Sign speaks for itself. Fall 1982. Deborah Ferruccio is carried away with Charlie Davis holding on to her. Fall 1982 Deborah Ferruccio in the jail yard. Fall 1982. Laura Bennie Davis, Deborah Ferruccio, and Victoria Lehman in the jail yard. Fall 1982. Dr. Lowery chats about biased language, as in “little white lies.” Fall 1982. A reflective arrestee looks through the chain link fence. Fall 1982. Moral and other support came in numerous ways. Fall 1982. Citizens put up their property as bail bond for the hundreds arrested. Oct. 1982. PCB soil was scraped up from some 240 miles of highway shoulders. Fall 1982. Only one worker had breathing protection, but PCBs are airborne. Fall 1982. Only about three inches deep of soil was removed from roadsides even though PCBs had been spreading for four years. Fall 1982. PCB-laden trucks line the road ready to deliver their payload. Fall 1982. Truck drivers chat while waiting their turn to deliver their PCB dirt. Fall 1982. The “dry-tomb” PCB landfill was about 20 feet deep and was capped with about 13 feet of water in it. Sept. 1982. PCB air emissions were significant along the roadsides and in the landfill area. They are now ubiquitous worldwide. Fall 1982. Former EPA Chief of Hazardous Waste and later Whistleblower warned Warren County citizens about failed landfills. Oct. 1982. Lois Gibbs of Love Canal warned citizens about the dangers of chemcial landfills and visited Ken and Deborah at their cabin. Oct. 1982. Lois Gibbs of Love Canal Is Interviewed at Coley Springs. Circa 1982. 
This editorial "celebrates the marriage of civil rights activism with environmental concerns." Oct. 12, 1982. 
Five weeks into the trucking operation, Gov. Hunt publishes this full-page letter in the Warren Record and pledges to detoxify the landfill when feasible. Oct. 20, 1982. Evelma White passively resists as State Highway Patrol are about to arrest her. Oct. 1982. Yonni Chapman and child have quite the police escort. The protests were totally non-violent. Oct. 1982. Gov. Hunt said he thought the PCB landfill would be "relatively safe." It was a dismal failure. Aug. 1982. Within about a month, the PCB landfill cap eroded down to the plastic, and 10-15 ft. bulges eruped in the top plastic liner. Dec. 1982. Dec. 1982. 
Ken fasted in jail for 19 days to protest failed “dry-tomb” PCB landfill. March 1983. 
No caption needed Warren County Concerned Citizens took Governor Hunt’s toxic aggression very personally. Oct. 1982. 
While it took Gov. Hunt four years to legally justify the PCB landfill in Warren County, he let thousands of residents in 14 counties be exposed to PCBs as they spread. Circa 1979. 
After a decade, state officials admit to 13 feet of water in the PCB landfill, and this begins a 10-year fight to get the landfill detoxified. July, 1993. 
Independent Scientist Joel Hirschhorn and Deborah Ferruccio speak at PCB Working Group state Capitol press conference about failures of PCB landfill and need to detoxify it. Nov. 13, 1996. 
For all the failures of the PCB landfill and the untruths and folklore that have followed, Warren County citizens transformed environmentalism. 
Deborah Ferruccio wrote the rationale and worked on wording with NC Archivist Michael Hill for this historic marker erected in Afton Warren County. Sept. 2012 The Roosevelt Institute for American Studies looks at Environmental Justice in US History. Fall 2022. Afton resident Henry Rooker and daughter march as television news captures the six-week event. Sept. 1982. Nathaniel Davis, like so many, posted his property as bond to support those who got arrested. Sept. 15, 1982. 
Rev. White, daughter Evelma, Dr. Lowery, Deborah Ferruccio, and Ken Ferruccio march to the landfill. Jet Magazine, Fall 1982. The news media covered the long North Carolina PCB saga. Sept. 15, 1982. Deborah Ferruccio stands with UNC Wilson Library Historian Stephen Fletcher at a PCB Exhibit. Sept. 2022. Deborah stands next to Our Road to Walk Podcast sign in front of Food Lion. Sept. 2022.
