Source: United States Department of Justice News
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy and Office of Environmental Justice. To mark the anniversary, the Department has issued a fact sheet highlighting its progress in its work advancing environmental justice.
“In the year since I announced the creation of the Justice Department’s first Office of Environmental Justice, the Department has taken important actions across the country to advance environmental justice for all Americans – including working to improve access to safe drinking water in Jackson, Mississippi; curbing harmful pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’; and securing convictions for mismanagement of industrial waste in West Virginia,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Although violations of our environmental laws can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change. We will continue to seek justice for and protect communities that are disproportionately burdened by environmental harms.”
“Our accomplishments over the past year confirm that advancing environmental justice is core to the Justice Department’s mission,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “All Americans, no matter where they live or work, deserve the protection of federal laws protecting clean air, clean water, worker safety, and quality of life.”
“I am proud of the progress we have made this year,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I look forward to deepening our partnership with EPA and other federal agencies as we strive to bring relief to overburdened communities, and to ensure that every American has clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.”
“Black communities and other communities of color are far too often disproportionately impacted by unsafe drinking water, illegal dumping, and other environmental hazards and injustices,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Department’s Civil Rights Division. “As our recent agreement in Lowndes County makes clear, we are committed to using our federal civil rights laws to address environmental injustices that have plagued our most vulnerable communities for generations.”
“As we take this opportunity to reflect on the Department’s ongoing efforts to advance environmental justice, we know there is more work to do,” said Director Cynthia Ferguson of the Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice. “It is a privilege and an honor to engage with communities across America as we work towards a healthier, safer world for all.”
The May 5, 2022 Department press release announcing the Office of Environmental Justice and the Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy may be found here. The Strategy may be found here.