"The state Departments of Environmental Quality and Health may be violating federal civil rights laws and regulations by allowing Black people to suffer disproportionate impacts from air pollution in Louisiana's industrial corridor, including an increased risk of cancer, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.
A 56-page "letter of concern" sent to the two agencies summarizes the EPA's initial findings during an investigation into two civil-rights complaints filed in April by environmental and community groups in St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes.
Earlier this year, EPA Administrator Michael Regan earlier this year pledged to investigate whether minority and low-income communities are disproportionately harmed by pollution, including in the region nicknamed "Cancer Alley.""
Mark Schleifstein reports for Nola.com October 13, 2022.
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