‘Certainly intimidation’: Louisiana sues EPA for emails of journalists and ‘Cancer Alley’ residents

Deep south state escalates its fight against environmental protection with ‘rare’ use of public record laws

Louisiana’s far-right government has quietly obtained hundreds of pages of communications between the Environmental Protection Agency and journalists, legal advocates and community groups focused on environmental justice. The rare use of public records law to target citizens is a new escalation in the state’s battle with the EPA over its examination of alleged civil rights violations in the heavily polluted region known as “Cancer Alley”.

Louisiana sued the EPA on 19 December, alleging that the federal agency had failed to properly respond to the state’s sprawling Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request sent by former state attorney general Jeff Landry.