The Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today progress by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in providing access to basic sanitation services, abating exposure to raw sewage from inadequate onsite wastewater systems, and improving health outcomes for the predominantly Black communities of Lowndes County, Alabama.
"Advancing environmental justice is a top priority for the Justice Department," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
"For decades, Lowndes County residents have endured living without basic sanitation and wastewater disposal services. The disproportionate impact of this on Black, low-income, rural residents — who, for generations, have suffered through illness, infectious diseases, and public health risks simply for living in their neighborhoods — is unacceptable," said Director Melanie Fontes Rainer of the HHS Office for Civil Rights.
"ADPH encourages Lowndes County residents who are required to use onsite septic systems for wastewater management to complete the Assessment. Residents can access the Assessment at epiweb.adph.state.al.us/redcap/surveys/?s=xamaxkhdrxxxldle. More information on ADPH’s septic system installation program is available at www.alabamapublichealth.gov/onsite/sewage.html or by contacting ADPH at (334) 206-5371 or at www.alabamapublichealth.gov/environmental/septic-system-program.html."