Washington Post, June 27, 2023, EPA closes civil rights investigation into Louisiana pollution
In a setback for environmental justice advocates, the Biden administration has closed a civil rights investigation of two Louisiana state agencies without finding discrimination in how the agencies regulated chemical plants in the area known as “Cancer Alley.”
The [Louisiana] attorney general has asked federal judges in the Western District of Louisiana to block the investigation of Louisiana, saying the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not, as the EPA claims, give it the power to take action against policies that discriminate by creating a “disparate impact,” such as heavier pollution in Black neighborhoods compared with others.
