WASHINGTON (CN) — The Department of Justice shuttered a little-known office that won tens of millions of dollars targeting environmental crime that disproportionately impacts America’s poorest communities.
In a memo on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi terminated all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the Justice Department to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
The Office of Environmental Justice was one casualty of the purge, ending a federal government initiative to investigate environmental crime in communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities.
Environmental advocates sharply condemned the office closure on Thursday. Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said it was the only government attorney program that stands up for poor communities.
“The DOJ’s tiny environmental justice program is the only thing preventing America’s poor communities from becoming toxic dumping grounds for Musk’s billionaire buddies,” Suckling said.
One year after opening the Office of Environmental Justice in 2022, former Attorney General Merrick Garland said it had investigated the drinking water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, went after pollution in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” secured felony convictions for industrial waste mismanagement in West Virginia, and prosecuted a coal company falsifying samples of “black lung” coal dust in Kentucky.
The office’s wastewater investigation in Lowndes County, Alabama, netted a settlement in the first-ever Title VI environmental justice investigation. Lowndes County officials ignored sanitation failures, leaving residents exposed to raw sewage. According to the government, the county’s health department threatened residents with criminal penalties for the poor conditions.
Settlements from the office’s work totaled tens of millions of dollars. Colorado natural gas processing plants paid a $3.25 million civil penalty for violating leak and repair requirements. Other natural gas processors paid $9.25 million in civil penalties and agreed to make improvements at 25 plants and 91 stations across 12 states.
The program also secured a record-setting $40 million settlement with BP Products for releasing benzene and other hazardous air pollutants in Indiana.
Annual reports for the Office for Environmental Justice have been deleted from the Justice Department’s website.
Matthew Tejada, senior vice president for environmental health at the Natural Resources Defense Council and the former head of the EPA’s environmental justice office, said closing the office means more toxic contaminants, dangerous air, and unsafe water in communities plagued by pollution.
“This administration has talked a big game about delivering clean air and clean water, but in one of its first official acts, the Trump EPA is turning its back on those who need a cleaner environment more than anyone,” Tejada said. “This is a disgrace.”
Legal judgments and settlements from the office forced companies to clean up illegal pollution. Suckling said that the onus will now fall on taxpayers.
“Getting rid of it does nothing to help government efficiency; it does nothing to save government money,” Suckling said. “All it does is unleash corporate interests to use poor communities as their dumping ground. That’s exactly who [Elon] Musk is in his business dealings. This is just a gift to his wealthy buddies; it has nothing to do with good governance.”
Enforcement actions against one Michigan steel company led to over $100 million in equipment updates to comply with pollution limits. Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation also paid a $81,000 civil penalty. Another settlement forced Heritage-Crystal Clean to update hazardous waste management to lower exposure risks in poor communities. The company also received a $1.1 million penalty.
Without the threat of criminal or civil penalties, Suckling said companies won’t be incentivized to abide by environmental regulations.
“Once you get rid of the prosecutors, now you can violate the regulations, and no one’s coming after you,” Suckling said. “It’s the same principle of big corporations wanting to eliminate tax audits.”