EPA Probes Louisiana Agencies Over Racial Discrimination Charges

The EPA has opened civil rights investigations into two Louisiana state agencies, responding to allegations of racial discrimination.

Two allegations have been filed by environmental groups claiming that the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s air pollution control program subjects Black residents to discrimination and disproportionate health and environmental impacts.

A separate allegation charges the state Department of Health is “engaged in an ongoing policy or practice of discrimination on the basis of race” against Black residents of St. John the Baptist Parish, on the outskirts of New Orleans.

Broadly, the Environmental Protection Agency will look into whether the DEQ’s actions, ...