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.
Standing by in San Antonio: the luxury plane from Qatar intended to replace Air Force One
The luxury jet needs a security overhaul. That usually takes a few years, meaning it might not be ready until Trump is out of office. Shortcuts could create national security risks.
For the first time, the U.S. is absent from WHO’s annual assembly. What’s the impact?
In the wake of President Trump's decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, the agency is holding its first major meeting. How will that affect WHO — and the United States?
Federal judge blocks Trump’s takeover of U.S. Institute of Peace
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled the USIP president and board members were unlawfully fired by President Trump and should be reinstated.
Pope Leo meets with Vance, who delivers an invitation to visit the White House
The meeting appeared part of an effort to reset relations with the Vatican after Pope Francis repeatedly criticized President Trump's migration policy. Vance also gave Pope Leo a Chicago Bears jersey.
Millions prepare for severe storms in the Midwest and South
Millions of people in central and eastern Oklahoma, as well as far northwest Arkansas, are in the path of numerous severe thunderstorms expected on Monday.
What we know about the Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
Authorities say they believe their prime suspect in the bombing was also the sole fatality of the attack.
