JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found no wrongdoing on the part of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which was accused of racial discrimination in its funding of wastewater infrastructure and treatment programs and activities. 

In May 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Treasury on the behalf of Jackson residents against MDEQ and the state of Mississippi.

The group claimed MDEQ and the state violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Department of Treasury Title VI regulations of non-discrimination for benefits based on race, color or national origin due to discriminatory funding in the Jackson water crisis.

A letter from the EPA said the investigation found “insufficient evidence to conclude that MDEQ violated Title VI and EPA’s nondiscrimination regulations.”

“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality did everything right,” said MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells. “Our state is blessed to have its own environmental protection agency through the MDEQ. We are Mississippians regulating Mississippians, and MDEQ is comprised of very capable and fair engineers, scientists, geologists, lawyers and other support staff—all who choose to live here and serve our great state. These allegations were entirely false and have been a distraction to the mission of our agency.” 

The EPA said it “identified deficiencies” regarding implementation of certain non-binding “procedural safeguards,” but MDEQ officials said those assertions are misleading.  

“MDEQ was already doing everything required by the regulations,” said Wells. “The EPA is taking responsibility for updates and improvements which are not specifically required by the regulations and were in the works long before this complaint was filed.”

The NAACP responded to the findings of the investigation.

“The majority Black city of Jackson has consistently been starved of resources — including safe, clean drinking water,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, a resident of Jackson. “We maintain that the residents of Jackson were discriminated against.”