Wastewater failures for Lowndes County’s Black residents at center of DOJ investigation
A sign welcomes visitors to Lowndes County in White Hall, Alabama. The U.S. Department of Justice opened an environmental justice investigation in November 2021 into the Lowndes County Health Department, along with the Alabama Department of Public Health, for their wastewater disposal and infectious disease and outbreaks programs.
The U.S. Department of Justice is opening up an investigation into the Alabama Department of Public Health and Lowndes County Health Department over concerns that the wastewater systems in rural Alabama discriminate against poor Black residents.
The investigation, opened Tuesday, is looking into the health departments’ wastewater disposal and infectious disease and outbreaks programs.
In a press release, the department said it is examining whether ADPH and LCHD are violating Civil Rights Law and whether the departments’ policies have reduced Lowndes County’s Black residents’ access to sufficient sewage and water systems and increased their exposure to harmful infections associated with poor wastewater management, such as hookworm — an intestinal parasite widely eliminated elsewhere in the U.S.
Lowndes County, where the population is largely poor and Black, has had complaints of poor infrastructure leading to raw sewage pooling in residents’ yards or backing up into their homes.
“Sanitation is a basic human need, and no one in the United States should be exposed to risk of illness and other serious harm because of inadequate access to safe and effective sewage management,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division, said in the press release. “State and local health officials are obligated, under federal civil rights laws, to protect the health and safety of all their residents.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 blocks recipients of federal funding from discriminating based on race, color or national origin. The probe into Lowndes County’s sanitation systems is the department’s first Title VI environmental justice investigation for one of its funding recipients. No conclusions have yet been drawn.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Birmingham, Alabama, WWNO in New Orleans and NPR.
A recent high-profile case of AI hallucination serves as a stark warning
MyPillow creator Mike Lindell's lawyers were fined thousands for submitting a legal filing riddled with AI-generated mistakes. It highlights a dilemma of balancing technology and using it responsibly.
A dive into mermaid camp
Mermaids may not be real, but that hasn’t stopped people from turning it into a career. Mermaiding isn’t just about fantasy. It’s about building real confidence and skills that carry over into other water sports.
This TikTok video is fake, but every word was taken from a real creator
TikTok researchers and users say there is yet another type of deception to look out for on the hit video app: Deepfake videos that copy the exact words of a real creator but in a different voice.
Why a new opioid alternative is out of reach for some pain patients
Journavx is the first truly new painkiller approved by the Food and Drug Administration in more than 20 years. But the drug is expensive, and many people can't get it yet.
Welcome to the Queue, where waiting for Wimbledon tickets rivals the tennis
Tennis lovers don costumes, throw Pimm's parties and camp overnight in line for day-of Wimbledon tickets. Some say waiting in the Queue is more fun than the actual tennis.
Nutella-maker Ferrero to gobble up cereal giant Kellogg for $3.1 billion
Italian candy giant Ferrero offered the American breakfast company a $3.1 billion deal too sweet to pass up.