Feds Claim Civil Rights Violation on Waste System in Black Community

What's the story?

• Lowndes County, Alabama, a majority Black community, has long been relying on outdated pipes to pump human waste into septic tanks and local creeks, in what the government is now calling a civil rights violation.
• The federal investigation marks the first time an environmental justice inquiry has fallen under the Civil Rights Act.

What's the problem?

• Lowndes County is one of 13 counties that make up Alabama's "Black Belt," and 72.5% of residents are Black. One in three residents lives below the poverty line, and half the homes have no access to wastewater infrastructure. Residents frequently have raw sewage leaks from failing septic tanks in their yards.
• A 2017 study found that 30% of the residents in the county had rare intestinal parasites in their systems. All who tested positive were Black. 
• Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said:

"[T]hese residents have been exposed to raw sewage in their neighborhoods, their yards, their playgrounds, schools and even inside their own homes. They have had to deal with sickness, disease, and the public health risks that result from their reliance on straight-piping."

The investigation

• Residents of the rural community and grassroots civil rights organizers like Earthjustice claimed gross racist neglect by public health officials. 
• Equal Justice Initiative Rural Development Manager Catherine Coleman Flowers, who grew up in Lowndes County and was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant for her environmental justice work, filed the civil rights complaint.
• In response to the complaint, the Federal Justice and Health and Human Services Departments launched their investigation in November 2021, focusing on Title IV of the Civil Rights Act.
• Title IV prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin for federally funded programs.
• The investigation also framed its findings in the context of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits exclusion from public health program services. 

The outcome of the investigation

• The inquiry lasted 18 months and found that the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Lowndes County Health Department acted with neglect and discrimination. The health departments were accused of denying Black residents basic sanitation.
• The departments were also found to have unfairly fined the residents and imposed liens upon their property for sanitary conditions not under their control and which they could not afford to address.
• Clarke said:

"Today starts a new chapter for Black residents of Lowndes County, Alabama, who have endured health dangers, indignities, and racial injustice for far too long. Our work in Lowndes County should send a strong message regarding our firm commitment to advancing environmental justice, promoting accountability, and confronting the array of barriers that deny Black communities and communities of color access to clean air, clean water, and equitable infrastructure across our nation."

What's next?

• The Department of Justice has ordered Lowndes County to stop fining and prosecuting residents for sanitation violations, to assess and address the wastewater needs of residents, and to develop a plan to address them in collaboration with residents.
• The state health department must work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess health risks to the population.

Is the government doing enough to reduce environmental injustice?

—Emma Kansiz