EPA closes civil rights probe into Louisiana over ‘Cancer Alley’ pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday it did not find discrimination by the state of Louisiana against Black residents who face high levels of air pollution, closing a probe into actions by state departments.

The agency has been investigating complaints from environmental groups that alleged discrimination over air pollution faced by Black residents of St. John the Baptist Parish. 

Environmental groups alleged that a company was allowed to release “excessive” levels of likely carcinogen chloroprene “that disproportionately affect St. John’s Black community.” It also raised concerns that residents were exposed to “various sources” of the carcinogen ethylene oxide. 

Overall, they claimed that the state’s “failures” caused residents to “face the highest cancer risk from air pollution in the nation.”

But, the EPA said in a Tuesday court filing that it did not find any discrimination or civil rights violations by the state.

“EPA made no finding of discrimination or other violation” by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality or the Louisiana Department of Health, the Biden administration said in court. 

The court filing closes out the agency’s investigation into the state amid complaints from the environmental organizations. 

The parish is found within an industrial corridor that has been nicknamed “Cancer Alley” due to residents’ exposure to pollutants that have been linked to cancer. A majority of the parish’s population is Black. 

The agency previously expressed concerns about the situation, sending a letter to the state last year saying it may have discriminated against Black residents. 

The “letter of concern” said the state’s “actions and inactions” may have discriminated against people who lived or went to school near a facility that emits chloroprene.

However, in new letters attached to the court filing, the agency said it was closing out the probe in light of the fact that it ordered Denka, the company behind the facility in question, to lower its emissions and had also filed a civil rights complaint against the company. The EPA also noted that it has proposed a new rule aiming to cut emissions of both chloroprene and ethylene oxide around the country. 

A Denka spokesperson told The Hill in October that the EPA was overestimating the chemical’s risks and said the company was taking steps to cut its releases. 

EPA spokesperson Khanya Brann sent an emailed statement to The Hill saying the agency was closing the complaints “based on information now available, including multiple significant action[s] by EPA.”

Brann also stressed the agency’s commitment to both local communities in Louisiana and people who are impacted by pollution more broadly. 

“The EPA is moving urgently, with an unprecedented commitment to advancing environmental justice, to ensure every person in this country has clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and the chance to lead a healthy, fulfilling life,” her statement said. 

“EPA remains fully committed to improving environmental conditions in St. John the Baptist and St. James Parishes. Community participation has been critical to identifying both problems and solutions, and we look forward to our continued partnership with the residents in both parishes as we continue our joint efforts to improve public health and the environment,” she added. 

Environmental advocates expressed disappointment in the agency’s decision. 

​​“We are deeply disappointed by EPA’s decision to close an investigation that could have brought justice to the community members of St. John the Baptist Parish, who have long borne the brunt of environmental injustice and discrimination,” Patrice Simms, vice president of health communities at Earthjustice, said in a written statement. 

“EPA’s decision to abandon its civil rights enforcement effort deprives these communities of an important avenue for securing justice and addressing longstanding and unconscionable toxic exposures,” Simms added. 

Updated June 28 at 12:09 p.m. ET.