Russian broadcaster notes "racist" sewage case in U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched its first-ever "environmental justice" investigation into the disposal of raw sewage in an African-American area in Alabama, reported Xinhua, quoting the Russian broadcaster RT.

The DOJ Civil Rights Division will look into the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Lowndes County Health Department to see if they failed to safely dispose of raw sewage.

The overwhelmingly poor rural area is reportedly not connected to the municipal sewer system and uses private septic tanks.

Investigators will check policies and practices that may have caused black residents "to have diminished access to adequate sanitation systems and to disproportionately and unjustifiably bear the risk of adverse health effects associated with inadequate wastewater treatment, such as hookworm infections."