DoJ to investigate Alabama’s sewage failures over possible discrimination

A 2017 study found hookworm parasite, transmitted via fecal matter, prevalent in of majority-Black Lowndes county

Four years after a shocking discovery revealed hookworm in the US's rural south, the justice department has announced it will investigate sanitation failures in Lowndes county, a majority Black county in Alabama.

Sanitation is a basic human need," said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the justice department's civil rights division, on Tuesday. Bold action is needed to ensure that no one in this country is unjustifiably subjected to illness or harm resulting from inadequate access to safe sewage services."