Louisiana was open to Cancer Alley concessions. Then EPA dropped its investigation

For more than a year, the Environmental Protection Agency investigated whether Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by putting them at increased cancer risk. Federal officials said they had found evidence of discrimination and were pressuring the state to strengthen oversight of air pollution from industrial plants.

Now, a draft agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that Louisiana health officials were open to stronger oversight, including looking at how new industrial plants could harm Black residents.

But the federal government dropped its investigation in June before it got any firm commitments from Louisiana. Advocates said it was a missed opportunity to improve the lives of people who live near refineries and chemical plants in an industrial stretch of the state commonly called “Cancer Alley.”

Experts say the Biden administration, facing a federal court challenge to the investigation, may have worried that a loss would limit its investigative power. But activists expressed concern that dropping the investigation weakened the administration’s fight against environmental discrimination.

Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project and former head of EPA’s Office of Civil Enforcement, reviewed the draft agreement Louisiana health officials edited and sent to the agency, reflecting the state of negotiations in late May.

“It’s just a shame that it’s basically, you know, gone,” he said.

Schaeffer added that community members are even less likely to see stronger regulations now that Louisiana voters elected Republican Jeff Landry as governor. As attorney general, Landry fought the EPA’s investigation.