Sunday, July 09, 2006

Essay 791


Residents of the historically Black community of DeBerry, Texas, insist they are victims of “environmental racism.” Folks have been unable to use water from the town’s wells ever since the Environmental Protection Agency found the groundwater to be contaminated with arsenic, lead, benzene, mercury and more. A lawsuit filed in June accused the Texas Railroad Commission, the organization charged with regulating the state’s oil and gas industry, with “intentionally giving citizens false information based on their race and economic status.” The Rev. David Hudson, whose aunt and uncle live in DeBerry, said, “I look at this as poisoning the only source of groundwater as tantamount to lynching.”

The New York Times story can be viewed by clicking on the essay title above.

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