Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) travelled to Houston, Texas, yesterday to hear environmental justice concerns from organisations representing historically underserved, overburdened, and marginalised communities regarding environmental issues. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Jennifer B. Lowery, Acting Director of the Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice Cynthia Ferguson, and EPA Region 6 representatives James McGuire and Patricia Welton accompanied them.
Assistant Attorney General Clarke launched the event by declaring that the listening session is a component of the department’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy and reiterating the department’s commitment to meaningful engagement with affected communities. She underlined the need of doing this outreach to uncover environmental justice issues impacting communities in Houston, other parts of Texas, and throughout the United States. She also emphasised the department’s recent efforts to improve environmental justice by enforcing federal civil rights statutes.
ENRD’s attempts to prosecute prosecutions against people who break the country’s environmental, natural resources, and occupational safety regulations were discussed by Assistant Attorney General Kim. He emphasised the significance of ENRD’s role in ensuring that communities of colour, low-income areas, and Native American communities get the necessary resources and assistance to combat environmental injustices. He highlighted the new Office of Environmental Justice, which will help coordinate environmental justice activities across the department by participating in inter-agency environmental justice efforts with federal, state, local, and Tribal partners and by encouraging and supporting outreach to overburdened and underserved communities. He concluded by highlighting instances of ENRD’s recent action, such as legal settlements addressing inappropriate flaring incidents that often occur near communities concerned with environmental justice and lowering greenhouse gas emissions while improving air quality.
U.S. Attorney Lowery discussed her office’s dedication to assisting the Civil Rights Division and ENRD in addressing environmental justice concerns in the Houston region, including the Title VI civil rights investigation into unlawful dumping in the Houston region. Given the local character of the majority of environmental justice challenges, she emphasised the crucial role the U.S. Attorney’s Office plays in the effective execution of the department’s plan. She shared the hope that the session was a preliminary but crucial step towards assuring meaningful contact with affected communities, particularly in Houston and the Southern District of Texas.
During the listening event, many Houston environmental justice leaders spoke on a range of themes. The 90-minute discussion centred on how the Justice Department can assist its state and local partners in addressing illegal dumping, air quality and pollution, transportation and infrastructure development, and language access, as well as how it can engage the local community in addressing problems and seeking solutions. The leaders stressed the systemic injustices underlying environmental justice issues, the health hazards posed by environmental burdens, and the desire to better their areas.
All of the department officials praised everyone in attendance for their involvement, as well as Professor Robert Bullard of Texas Southern University and Professors Victor Flatt and Tracy Hester of the University of Houston Law Center for sponsoring the listening session.