Environment
Court Ruling Could Set Back ‘Decades of Work’ in Polluted Black Communities
The US Environmental Protection Agency has been blocked from investigating racial disparities in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” in a decision with broad civil rights implications.
Smoke billows from chemical plants in “Cancer Alley” along the Mississippi River in Louisiana.
Photographer: Giles Clarke/Getty Images North AmericaWhen the US Environmental Protection Agency dropped a weighty investigation into a cluster of polluted Louisiana communities known as Cancer Alley, some observers suspected it was due to concern that a conservative court might strip its enforcement powers.
Now, even though the EPA has abandoned the probe, that anxiety has been partly borne out: A federal court has temporarily halted the use of one of EPA’s key tools for rooting out racial discrimination.