Texas Lawsuit Includes a Mix of Race and Water

[KingFlorez]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/us/09deberry.htm?_r=1&oref=slogin
Mark Graham for The New York Times

Mr. Hudson at a well used to monitor groundwater for pollution near some homes in DeBerry, Tex.
July 9, 2006
Texas Lawsuit Includes a Mix of Race and Water
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

DeBERRY, Tex. — Frank and Earnestene Roberson no longer need to drive the 23 miles to a Wal-Mart near Shreveport for a safe drink of water.

Instead, it is delivered to them in five-gallon jugs, courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency.

But they and neighbors in this historically black enclave in the East Texas oilfields seem no closer to being able to drink, cook or bathe safely from their own wells since the E.P.A. found the groundwater contaminated with pollutants that included arsenic, benzene, lead and mercury.

Calling themselves victims of "environmental racism," community members in June filed suit in federal court, accusing the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, of failing to enforce safety regulations and of "intentionally giving citizens false information based on their race and economic status."