EPA Opens Federal Civil Rights Investigation Into Mississippi Over Jackson Water Crisis

Cases of bottled water are handed out at a Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition distribution site in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 31, 2022. (Brad Vest/Getty Images)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday it is opening an investigation into Mississippi’s role in Jackson’s water crisis, including whether state agencies have discriminated against the majority-black capital city in not funding improvements to the city’s failing water system.

In a letter (pdf) in response to a complaint filed on Sept. 27 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the EPA said it will investigate whether the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi State Department of Health had “discriminated against the majority Black population of the City of Jackson on the basis of race in the funding of water infrastructure and treatment programs and activities,” and whether the agencies have any safeguards to protect against discrimination.

More than 80 percent of the 150,000 residents of Jackson are black.

The civil rights complaint from the NAACP (pdf) alleged that the state of Mississippi discriminated against Jackson on the basis of race which resulted in not allotting Jackson federal funds to ensure safe drinking water. It sought for “an immediate investigation into the use of federal funds related to drinking water in Jackson and to seek the rapid adoption of comprehensive enforcement remedies.”

The civil rights investigation sought is known as a Title VI, which is a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin under any program that gets federal funding.

A local worker pours water into a bucket to be used to flush toilets at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 31, 2022. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

The NAACP praised the EPA for launching the investigation. “We applaud the EPA, Administrator Regan, and the Biden Administration for taking this issue seriously and opening a federal civil rights investigation into the state’s racially discriminatory use of federal funds for the City of Jackson’s water systems,” Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president, said in a statement. Johnson was named among several resident complainants in the NAACP civil rights complaint against Mississippi.

“This action is only the first step,” he added. “NAACP and its partners will continue to press the Biden Administration and Congress to hold state officials accountable and ensure that Jackson officials and residents are active participants in the decision-making that will be required to fix the unacceptable problems with Jackon’s water.”

Over 2 Weeks Without Reliable Water

EPA’s announcement comes after leaders of two congressional committees informed Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (pdf) they are launching a joint investigation into Jackson’s recent water crisis in late August and early September, which left residents and businesses in Jackson and surrounding areas without reliable access to safe drinking water for over two weeks.

Reeves, who is not being investigated by the EPA, said Thursday that the state took control of Jackson’s water system because of “absolute and total incompetence” of the city’s Democratic mayor and administration. The governor’s latest remarks are an escalation of a dispute between him and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba over whether the state or the city will decide on a private firm to operate Jackson’s water system.

“They have proven that they have no ability to manage the water system,” Reeves told reporters during an event at the Governor’s Mansion, according to a video of the event by WLBT-TV. Reeves added that the state has bought chemicals and hired workers for the water plant since he declared a state of emergency in late August after the city failed to do both of those things.

Melissa Payne, a city spokesperson, said Lumumba would not respond to the governor’s statements.

Members of the Mississippi National Guard hand out bottled water at Thomas Cardozo Middle School in response to the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 1, 2022. (Brad Vest/Getty Images)

Several Jackson residents have separately filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Jackson, as well as the current and former mayors and city officials, and engineering companies, alleging that neglect on their part had caused the city’s water supply to be completely shut down in late August.

Prior to the temporary shutdown of Jackson’s water system, its resident had been told for a month to boil their water due to the water appearing cloudy, to ensure no “disease-causing organisms.” Hundreds of volunteers and National Guard members later joined in distributing drinking water to residents. The boil water notice has since been lifted; Reeves said the decision to lift it came after Mississippi’s health department collected 120 samples of water over two consecutive days and determined that clean water had been restored to Jackson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.