DOJ launches environmental justice investigation in Houston over dumping

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The Justice Department on Friday opened an environmental justice investigation into allegations that the city of Houston has failed to respond equitably to reports of illegal dumping in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the civil rights division, said the probe will focus primarily on the northeast section of the nation’s fourth-largest city, including the neighborhoods of Trinity and Houston Gardens. Residents in those communities have voiced long-standing concerns over the dumping of furniture, tires, medical waste, automated bank teller machines, dead animals and even human bodies, officials said.

Since his appointment last year as the nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Merrick Garland has sought to prioritize issues of environmental justice, announcing the creation in May of a Justice Department office to help coordinate the federal government’s legal strategy. The Houston case, officials said, was prompted by a 65-page complaint from Lone Star Legal Aid, which alleged that the city has denied services and failed to enforce municipal codes in some neighborhoods.

“The complaint we received indicates the issues extend back years,” Clarke said. “It’s deeply troubling to see the reports of the items regularly dumped and abandoned in Black and Latino communities.”

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Justice officials said investigators have requested data from Houston’s 311 city services center to determine whether there has been a pattern of neglect of calls from certain sections of the city. The probe will focus on the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, the police department and the solid waste management division, all of which receive federal funding.

Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, jurisdictions that receive federal funding are barred from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.

Clarke said illegal dumping can disadvantage neighborhoods in multiple ways, including by attracting rodents and mosquitoes, lowering property values, causing illness, obstructing sewer drainage and contaminating drinking water.

“In America, your Zip code often is a key determinant of your cancer risk … and even your expected life span,” said Todd S. Kim, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s environment and natural resources division. “It’s true that any of us could be exposed to environmental contamination, but it’s also true that communities of color, low-income communities and tribal communities bear these hardships disproportionately.”

Clarke said the Justice Department would seek to work collaboratively with Houston officials to develop a voluntary compliance plan to address any violations uncovered in the investigation.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/doj-launches-environmental-justice-investigation-in-houston-over-dumping/?feed_id=294&_unique_id=62daef7a24ded