EPA: Racial disparity in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY and MICHAEL PHILLIS
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said it has evidence that Black residents in an industrial section of Louisiana face an increased risk of cancer from a nearby chemical plant — and that state officials have let air pollution remain high and downplayed its threat. The agency’s 56-page letter to Louisiana officials describes early findings of racial discrimination by two Louisiana departments. Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality calls the letter a step in the process and says it will keep working with the EPA. One of the people who filed a complaint says people in his community are looking for urgent federal action. Another says the government sees that people are facing environmental racism.
