One peer-reviewed 2021 study, the only one to examine effects in the surrounding community, found elevated levels of #cancer & other maladies for people living closest to the plant.

Denka dismissed this field survey, which was prompted by concerns from a community advocacy group & led by the progressive University Network for #HumanRights, as "flawed & biased" & cited an #EPA assessment that called it "uninformative."

Asked to comment on the findings of this story, an #EPA spox directed Reuters to a video stmnt by #Trump's new #EPA administrator, #LeeZeldin, who has outlined a strategy emphasizing #deregulation, saying the US can protect the #environment & promote economic growth at the same time [note the absence of concern for #PublicHealth & populations in #LowIncome communities].

"It's #DEI being treated like a four-letter word," said Linda Birnbaum, a retired toxicologist & fmr director of the National Institute of #Environmental #Health #Sciences who spent 19 years at the #EPA. "People who are already most impacted by high #pollution are going to be most hurt by the loosening of #regulations."

The #Trump admin's press release announcing the end of the lawsuit said the dismissal fulfilled Trump's Day One #ExecutiveOrder to eliminate #diversity, #equity & #inclusion, & that it aligned with the #EPA's new pledge to "end the use of '#EnvironmentalJustice' as a tool for advancing ideological priorities."
[read as opposite of what they say]

Gerard lives along the #MississippiRiver, just a few blocks from a synthetic rubber plant that the admin of fmr President Joe #Biden sued, claiming it posed an imminent #PublicHealth hazard. Gerard, like more than 90% of people living within 1 mile (1.5 km) of the plant, is #Black.

Because of #Brown, #school ofcls may no longer deliberately separate students by #race —but under more recent #SCOTUS orders, they aren’t allowed to deliberately mix them by race either. #Integration advocates today have stopped looking to the #federal courts for help & are pursuing #state lawsuits instead.…some #Black leaders have concluded that the answer is not integration…but more #money & #opportunity for high #poverty #schools….

…The #Brown decision focused on the value of mixing children of different races. But for many #integration activists —then & now— the case is about a path to #fair & #equitable educational #resources. Those legal battles cont.
Today’s complex views about #schools & integration come amid persistent #segregation that has risen in recent decades,changes in the #legal landscape & complicated dynamics of #education & #race in #America today.

In its unanimous decision in #Brown, #SCOTUS ruled segregated schools were #unconstitutional & “inherently unequal,” combining 5 cases in which #Black students & their schools had far fewer resources than their #White peers — longer commutes, lower-quality classes, overcrowding, fewer opportunities & less money. Yet 1/3 Black Americans now say integration has failed to improve the #education of Black students….