New environmental justice grants seek to empower Louisiana communities

A new round of federal grants announced Monday seeks to address environmental justice issues in Louisiana by empowering communities, which may pay for projects related to flooding, drinking water quality or pollution problems.

The aid operation was announced in New Orleans by a host of officials, including Rep. US Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, and leaders of the US Environmental Protection Agency. A total of $2.49 million has been awarded to the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, which will distribute it in increments of between $50,000 and $100,000 for community-led projects.

The EPA says the grants help communities respond to “the impact of regulatory inequity, and the devastating impact of climate change and water quality/water justice issues.”

The program is part of the EPA’s focus on environmental justice under the Biden administration, where the agency’s leader, Michael Regan, has visited Louisiana twice to highlight a community he says is burdened by pollution and the dangers it poses. . His tours included stops along the heavily developed Mississippi River corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that activists have dubbed “Cancer Alley.”

“Our approach has been to educate the public so that they have a voice. And you know how politicians respond? The voice of the people,” said Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center. for Environmental Justice, based in New Orleans. “Therefore, in this period of time, we will be able to create more voices to educate more people in this state of Louisiana.”

The organization plans to award up to twenty grants through a competitive process over a two-year period. Examples of projects may include flood mitigation, reducing the impact of pollution or improving stormwater management. Projects may also include training in those areas.

Similar programs are being organized in other Gulf Coast states, and the overall process is overseen by EPA’s Gulf of Mexico division. The money comes from the EPA budget.

“What better process to have than to get the people who live in the community involved in checking, participating in the checks and balances, participating in the table of how these dollars are spent , and getting their non-profits to play an active role in keeping people loyal,” Carter said what is in the water, and to see that the public has bought, that they trust their government, which in many ways, for a long time, was not good for them as they should have been like that.”

The Deep South Center will focus on areas that qualify as environmental justice communities in parishes including Acadia, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Saint Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne and Vermillion.

The EPA under the Biden White House has sought to address what it sees as historical injustices related to communities at the forefront of environmental hazards, such as pollution. The grants that will be awarded through the new program are relatively small, but EPA Regional Director Earthea Nance said she hopes they can also build capacity to allow agencies to pursue larger projects later.

“This is like a stepping stone grant,” he said.