With the assistance of information collected by residents of Bumpass Cove, Tennessee Department of Public Health records, and interviews with residents and local health officials, this study provides a historical overview of the inception of Bumpass Cove Landfill, the resulting problems stemming from its misuse, and the reaction of a persistent community during the 1970s and early 1980s. In its early days, Bumpass Cove was an active and productive mining site; however, the area would become a threat to the local residents’ safety with the opening of Bumpass Cove Sanitary Landfill. Years of illegal hazardous waste land filling wreaked havoc on the environment and endangered area residents’ health. In the end, citizen protest and the intervention of the Superfund Program would result in the closing of the landfill and the restoration of the area. Taken together, these occurrences paint a vivid picture of the controversy surrounding Bumpass Cove Landfill.