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Holt v. Scovill

July 26, 2007

Senate Holds First Hearing on Environmental Justice
LDF Client, Sheila Holt Attends Hearing

The Senate held the first-ever hearing on environmental justice on Wednesday, July 25, 2007, in Washington, D.C. LDF client Sheila Holt, whose family is suing government officials and several private companies for polluting the family's groundwater with cancer-causing chemicals, attended the hearing.

The purpose of the hearing was to provide oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) environmental justice programs under an Executive Order 12898, issued in 1994. The Order required EPA to take the lead in taking action to address the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on minority and low-income populations. Recent reports from the Government Accountability Office and the EPA Inspector General have raised serious concerns about EPA's current commitment to environmental justice.

"This Senate hearing is an important first step toward strengthening the federal government's oversight role and addressing the unfair environmental burdens that black and low-income communities bear around the country," said Matthew Colangelo, LDF Assistant Counsel.

Earlier this year, the United Church of Christ released a report on Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty that underscored the magnitude of the problem. The report noted that out of the nine million Americans who live in communities with one or more hazardous waste facilities, more than five million of them are people of color.

The Holts are an African-American family whose ancestors purchased land and settled on the outskirts of the town of Dickson, Tennessee in the late 19th Century. The lawsuit alleges that government officials knew as early as 1988 that the Holt family's well water was contaminated with cancer-causing toxins from an adjacent landfill. Toxin levels have reached as high as thirty times the standard set by EPA. But rather than take steps to warn and protect the Holt family, government officials did just the opposite - they informed the Holt family that the water was safe for consumption, while notifying neighboring white families of the hazard and taking steps to remedy their exposure.

It was not until 2000 that the Holt family was finally warned to stop drinking and bathing in their contaminated well water. By then it was too late - every member of the family has in recent years developed serious health problems, including cancer. Sheila Holt's father died of cancer in January 2007.

Ms. Holt will submit written testimony to the Senate Committee on behalf of her family. Numerous stories have been written about the Holt family's fight for justice.

Read more about the Holt family story in People magazine's May 14th issue and Essence magazine's July issue.