On May 1, 1997 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued a precedent-setting decision that will go a long way in protecting the environment, health, and welfare of communities nationwide. The three-judge NRC panel rejected, until further review, the application of the Louisiana Energy Services (LES) for a license to build and operate a privately-owned uranium enrichment plant in the mostly poor and African American Forest Grove and Center Springs, Louisiana communities. African Americans make up over 97 percent of the population in the two communities and 46 percent of Claiborne Parish. Over 58 percent of Claiborne Parish's African American population live below the poverty level. Per capita income of the black population of Claiborne Parish is only 36 percent of the white population, compared to the national average of 55 percent.

A local citizens group, Citizens Against Nuclear Trash or CANT, charged the company with environmental racism and filed a law suit to block the plant. Forest Grove and Center Springs residents believed that racial discrimination was the primary motivator for their communities being selected to "host" the uranium plant. They saw themselves as victims of a "double whammy" of being poor and black.

Based largely on the research and expert testimony of Dr. Robert D. Bullard, who directs the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, the NRC denied the permit on the grounds that racial discrimination existed in the facility siting process. The judges also found that the NRC staff had failed to consider environmental and socioeconomic impact of the proposed plant on the two nearby African American communities as required under the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act and the 1994 Environmental Justice Presidential Executive Order 12898.

The decision is significant in that it is the first court ruling in the country whereby a permit was denied on environmental justice grounds. Dr. Bullard, author of several books on environmental justice, including Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Quality and Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color, said, "The ruling is important in that it is the first court decision in the U.S. to find environmental discrimination and deny a permit. But more important, the decision sends a clear signal to other governmental entities, including the states, and private industry that environmental racism is illegal and has consequences. It is a major victory for environmental justice."

It has been an uphill battle proving environmental discrimination in the courts. The NRC decision clearly demonstrated that all environmental decision making is not race-neutral and government must go the extra mile to ensure that our environmental laws are equally enforced. The NRC judges state: "Because this agency's primary responsibilities historically have dealt with technical concerns, investigating....[and] is an area in which the staff has little experience or expertise. Nevertheless, if the President's directive is to have any meaning in this particular licensing action, the staff must conduct an objective, thorough, and professional investigation that looks beneath the surface...In other words, the staff must lift some rocks and look under them."

For those interested in reading the decision may do so on the NRC home page at: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports/lesfnl.htm.

Click here to read Dr. Bullard's complete testimony.