A Mississippi environmental regulator has denied claims that the state agency he leads discriminated against the capital city of Jackson in its distribution of federal funds for wastewater treatment.
In a recently unearthed letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Executive Director Christopher Wells wrote that the NAACP has “failed to allege a single fact to support” its argument that the agency discriminated against Jackson. He said he believed the ongoing civil rights investigation into the matter was politically motivated.
Disruptions to Jackson’s water services have ailed the city for years, and its system nearly collapsed in late August after heavy rainfall exacerbated problems at the city’s main water treatment plant. Most of Jackson lost running water for several days, andWells’ Dec. 16 letter was sent almost three months after the NAACPunder Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids federal fund recipients from discriminating on the basis of race or national origin.
The federal agency could withhold money from Mississippi if it finds wrongdoing — potentially millions of dollars. If the state agencies don’t cooperate with the investigation, the EPA could refer the case to the Department of Justice. The EPA had been aware of Jackson’s water problems for years, including when the city entered into a consent decree with the agency in 2012 after it was cited for violating the Clean Water Act, Wells wrote.
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