"“The fact this gone on so long without action is significant,” one top HHS official said over the problems endured by residents of Lowndes County."
"Officials in Alabama discriminated against Black residents in a rural county by denying them access to adequate sanitation systems, imposing burdensome fines and liens and ignoring the serious health risks plaguing the community, according to a landmark environmental justice agreement announced Thursday by the Biden administration.
“Today starts a new chapter for Black residents of Lowndes County, Ala., who have endured health dangers, indignities and racial injustice for far too long,” Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in announcing the agreement with local health officials and the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Monday’s agreement comes 18 months after the federal government launched an investigation into the situation in Lowndes — and after years of complaints from civic activists about sewage backups caused by failing septic tanks and exacerbated by climate change, including increased flooding."
Brady Dennis reports for the Washington Post May 4, 2023.
SEE ALSO:
"U.S. Settles Landmark Alabama Environmental Justice Case" (Reuters)
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