Mississippi agency denies NAACP’s water discrimination claim

By Michael Goldberg, Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — 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.

“Jackson received a loan for every completed application it submitted,” Wells wrote. “And, because the amount of the loan is based on the cost of the project, no loans were reduced for any reason that could be considered discriminatory.”

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, and people had to wait in lines for water to drink, cook, bathe and flush toilets.

Wells’ Dec. 16 letter was sent almost three months after the NAACP filed a federal complaint under 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 complaint said that Mississippi officials “all but assured” a drinking water calamity by depriving Jackson of badly needed funds to upgrade its infrastructure.

The original article has more information.

Many Black Americans live in areas detrimental to their health, an effect of slavery and redlining, two topics covered by the National Black History Museum.

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