The legal controversy over the Genesee Power Plant in Flint, Michigan has finally ended, with a court forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to better investigate and resolve complaints of environmental discrimination.
"After 26 years, the oldest pending civil rights complaint against the Environmental Protection Agency is finally over," reports Sophie Yeo. "A district court in California has found [pdf] that the EPA was guilty of environmental racism when it ignored the pollution concerns of a largely African-American community in Flint in the 1990s."
The story of this lawsuit dates back to 1990, when a Catholic priest named Father Phil Schmitter began speaking out against plans for the Genesee Power Station, an incinerator expected to emit lead, mercury, arsenic, and other pollutants into the air, according to Yeo.
The article includes a detailed history of the incinerator's approval and construction, the initial civil rights complaint brought forward by the St. Francis Prayer Center against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the subsequent failure of the EPA to respond to the complaint. As noted by Yeo, such negligence on the part of the EPA was not uncommon. "A 2015 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found that, of all complaints submitted to the EPA's civil rights office, 162 were rejected, 38 were not reviewed, and only 64 were accepted."
FULL STORY: ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM IN FLINT IS MUCH OLDER THAN THE WATER CRISIS
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.