Trump Administration Halts Federal Projects Addressing Environmental Hazards in Black Communities
The Trump administration has halted nearly two dozen federal projects designed to address environmental and health problems in predominantly Black communities across the South.
At least 22 initiatives across multiple agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture, have been rolled back. These efforts had been focused on combating raw sewage leaks, toxic pollution, and chronic flooding that disproportionately affect Black residents in southern states.
One of the hardest-hit areas is Lowndes County, Alabama, where residents lost a $14 million grant intended to upgrade sanitation systems. For decades, inadequate septic infrastructure has caused raw sewage to pool on properties, leading to health risks such as hookworm infections. “We feel left behind again, like so many other times,” said Carmelita Arnold, president of the Lowndes County Unincorporated Wastewater Program. “I just felt we had more support when we had the DOJ keeping track.”
In Aberdeen Gardens, Virginia, a historic Black neighborhood, residents lost a $20 million EPA grant aimed at addressing chronic flooding. Shelton Tucker, who has lived in the community his entire life, expressed frustration. “I’m disappointed. It’s putting politics over the safety of human beings,” he said.
Communities in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” an area known for high rates of industrial pollution and related health issues, also saw federal support withdrawn. Canceled projects included air quality monitoring, a lawsuit against a chemical company accused of increasing cancer risk, and a proposed historic landmark designation in the town of Wallace that would have limited industrial development.
The National Park Service had previously recognized Wallace as a site with a unique rural landscape and important history distinct from the stories of sharecropping and the Great Migration. However, the designation was later rescinded at the request of state officials. Joy Banner, a resident and community advocate, described the reversal as a political maneuver. “It is 22,000 acres of land that would have been protected. Now some greedy developer is going to come in and still be able to develop that land. DEI is just an easy excuse to target vulnerable communities,” she said.
The administration has defended the cuts as part of a broader effort to reduce federal spending and dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, many of which were supported through Biden-era climate and equity initiatives. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers stated, “President Trump was given an overwhelming mandate to stop spending hard-earned taxpayer dollars on the left’s radical climate agenda and restore commonsense to the federal government’s out-of-control spending.”
Environmental advocates sharply criticized the decision. Jen Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, argued that these cuts would leave already struggling communities without critical infrastructure improvements. “Old and crumbling infrastructure in these Southern communities that should keep everyone safe and healthy, it’s not going to be repaired or upgraded,” she said. “It is incredibly cruel, and it is lazy for the Trump administration to destroy and tear down these programs.”
