EPA to probe whether N.C. hog farms violate neighbors’ rights
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to investigate claims that North Carolina’s regulation of hog farms violates the civil rights of their minority neighbors.
Three advocacy groups filed a complaint with EPA in September. North Carolina’s 2,100 farms produce about 10 million hogs a year, second-highest in the nation.
The groups claim the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ lax regulation of the farms discriminates against the African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans who live near the farms in disproportionate numbers.
Advocates filed the complaint after North Carolina renewed a statewide permit regulating hog farms last year without substantially stiffening standards, the groups say.
The complaint was filed under a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits recipients of federal aid from discriminating on racial or other grounds.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article11206091.html#storylink=cpy
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