Environmental Justice Suit Challenges Cincinnati Highway Plan

The Department of Transportation ignored how a Cincinnati highway expansion project will disproportionately affect minority and low-income communities, a coalition of community organizations said.

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project was approved with a “no significant impact” finding on pollution, public health and water quality despite evidence of adverse effects in the metropolitan area the highway cuts through, groups told the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Tuesday.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for Transit and Sustainable Development said it presented the federal and state DOT with studies regarding disparate impacts on government-defined “environmental justice census blocks,” but ...