"The EPA touted its only preliminary finding of discrimination in a civil-rights case, but the complainants were less than thrilled with the outcome".

"OXNARD, California – It was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first and only preliminary finding of discrimination in a civil rights case. The agency saw it as a clear victory for people like Maria Garcia, who’d complained about pesticide spraying on strawberry fields near her children’s school.

In 2011, after a decade-long investigation, the EPA negotiated a settlement that required the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to add a site to a trio of farming communities — including Oxnard — to be monitored for airborne chemicals. The agreement showed the EPA’s 'steadfast commitment to protecting and advancing civil rights,' the agency said in a press release.

Garcia, however, was unimpressed."

Talia Buford reports for the Center for Public Integrity August 11, 2015. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Thirteen Years And Counting: Anatomy of An EPA Civil Rights Investigation" (Center for Public Integrity) [3]