Feds Claim Civil Rights Violation on Waste System in Black Community
Is the government doing enough to reduce environmental injustice?
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- Lowndes County, Alabama, a majority Black community, has long been relying on outdated pipes to pump human waste into septic tanks and local creeks, in what the government is now calling a civil rights violation.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
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Considering the city I grew up in, installed sewers and a sewage treatment plant in the 1960s, using federal grant money available under the Johnson Administration, any town with out sewage treatment in 2023 needs to be investigated and people involved held responsible.
Flint Michigan...
Unfortunately, the Federal government has to step in where the State governments won't. To make things worse the Supreme Court seems inclined to make it more difficult for intervention related to environmental and discrimination issues. So, is the fed (biden administration) doing enough? Probably not but we should be glad that some efforts have been made to push back when and where it can. Don't blame the administration. Blame the Courts and inaction by legislatures at the National and State levels.
I feel like if I do the research, somewhere in here will be a democratic mayor more interested in make them and their unions rich over doing good in their communities
I'm not sure the federal government is doing enough yet to stop environmental injustice, but I know that states such as Alabama are certainly not doing enough.
I wish there were baselines for all states to follow, since it seems the Supreme Court is not going to do much to protect people after its last few awful clean air and water rulings.
Why is it so bad to expect a minimum level of safe, clean air and water for all Americans, no matter where they live or the color of their skin?
This is a local issue.. If the peoples local elected officals can run things right.. Elect people that can.. Investigatge where the loss revenue is going. If federal tax dollars are used, then local government should go into trusteeship.
The US government don't respect or value Black people.
Profit is king in a purely capitalistic system, and such a mindset leaves people with low incomes and disenfranchised in the dust or sewage. As a small business owner, I think capitalism has its place, but so does compassion. In society, compassion is seen through social programs and governmental funding of projects that benefit the poor and disenfranchised populations.
I wish the far-left would stop equating Socialism with communism. Here are two very different systems. Most affluent nations in the world are a combination of capitalism and Socialism. We see this kind of treatment for low-income people without a socialistic component. to provide healthy housing.
We read in the news another black male is killed far to often. And the police continue to do the same. The people who are supposed to protect do not seem to do so. Heard nothing from our government, read nothing from the the government about this issue.
We must work to make sure that all Americans live in a safe and clean environment! From access to clean water, air, and safe housing that does not have environmental dangers!
We must work to plan cities and highways that do not put the poor and brown people in danger!
Accountability needed in Alabama!
Next scam by ultra-libs
It is clear to anyone that looks at things on face value that those on the lowest rungs in our socioeconomic scale are routinely neglected, and when there is attention paid, it is slow rolled and short lived. I am not a socialist by any stretch of the imagination; however, I believe that any socially responsible capitalist would see that ensuring good functioning infrastructure to the entire community will make the economy function more effectively.
Much more needs to bee done and we don't have time to wait.
Historic intentional underfunding.
We know the pockets are lined by special interests. There are no REAL leaders in this great nation.
NO! There was a case that 60 Minutes aired about a yr. ago of a mainly Black community in one of the southern states that didn't even have proper seweage, so waste was emptied behind houses or in front yards. This lack of basic services should never happen in the US, ever. We don't live in the 1800s anymore, thus utility serives should not either. The right to santitation should know no color.
This is an on-going problem. I don't believe they've resolved Flint, Michigan yet.
If Biden would spend OUR money on creating healthier communities and focus on providing basic human needs (i.e. water, housing, food) we wouldn't be having these conversations. Instead he's squandering our money away to other nations! This is pitiful!
Granted the republicans are. It interested in it and results all attempts to make any progress, local communities need to stand up.
No, the government is not doing enough. What else is new? Plus it is a red state. They are known for not taking care of their own.