EPA Finds Evidence of Disparate Impacts in ‘Cancer Alley’ (1)

An EPA civil rights investigation into Louisiana health and environmental departments found evidence that official actions could be harming Black communities.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) are under investigation over claims that their actions in a heavily-polluted corridor of the state, known as “Cancer Alley,” are exposing Black communities to outsize emissions of harmful pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s External Office of Civil Rights sent a letter to the state agencies on Wednesday that presents “significant evidence” of negative impacts stemming from the two departments’ actions.

“EPA’s initial ...