Lawsuit alleges EPA failed to probe civil rights complaints

Californians for Renewable Energy (CARE) joined with five other community groups nationally in suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week, alleging the agency failed to address their civil rights complaints for over a decade.

Earthjustice filed the lawsuit, joined by CARE, CARE President Michael Boyd, Ashurst Bar/Smith Community Organization, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, and Sierra Club-Lone Star Chapter.

The complaints, which the EPA accepted, alleged discrimination against low-income, minority-populated communities, which have been overburdened with high polluting facilities permitted by their respective states. The suit centers around two power plants in Pittsburg, California; a Tallassee, Alabama, landfill; a hazardous-waste facility in Chaves County, New Mexico; a Flint, Michigan, power station and an oil-refinery expansion on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The lawsuit aims to force the EPA to fulfill its duties to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, in which it would investigate these cases and issue findings and recommendations.