Justice Department Finds Alabama Discriminated Against Black Residents in Sewage Crisis

The Justice Department has reached an interim agreement with the health departments of Alabama and Lowndes County over practices found to discriminate against generations of Black residents. The agreement includes improving wastewater infrastructure, measuring health risks associated with raw sewage exposure, and stopping penalties for residents who cannot afford adequate treatment systems. Lowndes County, home to about 10,000 people in rural Alabama, is nearly three-quarters Black, and its poverty rate is more than double that of the national average. About 80 percent of residents rely on on-site wastewater systems like septic tanks, and 40 percent use failing home systems or none at all, exposing them to health risks.