EPA Dismisses Civil Rights Complaint over California Hazardous Waste Sites

Date: September 17, 2012

Source: News Room

The EPA recently dismissed a 16-year old high profile complaint that accused California regulators of violating the civil rights of three rural predominantly Latino towns in the state's Central Valley. Residents of Kettleman City, Buttonwillow and Westmorland claimed that the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federal and state agencies from engaging in racial discrimination in permitting activities, particularly with regard to three nearby hazardous waste landfills including Waste Management's Kettleman Hills Landfill and Clean Harbors' Buttonwillow and Westmorland landfills. The residents sued the EPA last June in federal court for failing to respond to the original complaint within the required time period. In an August 30 letter dismissing the complaint, EPA's Office of Civil Rights said it had no authority to review the original decision to site the state's three commercial hazardous waste disposal facilities in the community, which activists allege has an unusually high number of birth defects. EPA said the siting decisions were made by entities that are not recipients of EPA assistance, and therefore the office "does not have jurisdiction over these particular siting decisions."

In a statement this month, California DTSC Director Debbie Raphael said that "while the agency is happy with EPA's conclusion that our past decisions and actions were not discriminatory, we are committed to conducting our current and future work in a way that does not unfairly burden Latino or other communities. Since 1994 we have vastly updated and enhanced our processes, including our outreach process." Her agency is still reviewing the permit application to expand the Kettleman Hills landfill. The agency had delayed action on the permit until the EPA responded to the Title VI petition.

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