DOJ: Alabama ignored sewer issues, harmed Black residents

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice says an environmental justice probe found Alabama engaged in a pattern of inaction and neglect regarding the risks of raw sewage for residents in an impoverished county. The departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announced the results of the environmental justice probe and a settlement agreement with state officials to address longstanding wastewater sanitation problems in Lowndes County, a high-poverty county between Selma and Montgomery. The agreement is the result of the Justice Department’s first environmental justice investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Justice Department officials said it will not be the last.