Group claims discrimination over hearing asphalt plants
By Claudia L. Silva csilva@sfnewmexican.com - May 7, 2022
“We mobilized folks, and the very first person that goes up there to make a comment — the interpretation is not what it’s supposed to be,” Acosta said. “There is this state institution with all these resources with all this money, in a state where the constitution says everything will be in English and in Spanish, and they weren’t ready.”
As Earth Care helped one speaker file a complaint with the EPA, Acosta said, the group learned it was not the first time the department had been accused of violating Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial or ethnic discrimination by any agency or program that receives federal funding. “We come to find out that there is already an agreement that the NMED is supposed to be responding to because of a previous violation for the same reason four or five years ago,” he said.
