CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A coalition says North Carolina failed to protect the civil rights of residents of colour when it approved permits for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
They want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s civil rights division to require the state Department of Environmental Quality to rescind the permits and perform a more thorough analysis.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported first on their complaint, which accuses the state and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of failing to consider the health and environmental impact. It also says the state obscured the route’s disproportionate impact on blacks and Native Americans by comparing demographics within a mile of the pipeline to the rest of each county, rather than the rest of the state.