Environmental racism is defined as the intentional siting of polluting and waste facilities in communities primarily populated by African Americans, Latines, Indigenous People, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, migrant farmworkers, and low-income workers. These communities often lack the resources and influence to challenge harmful policies.
Watered Down Justice, a report co-authored by the National Resources Defense Council, is an analysis of EPA data that reveals there is unequal access to safe drinking water, based most strongly on race. The NRDC conducted an analysis of approximately 50,000 active community water systems in the country and compared trends with sociodemographic factors such as race and income.
Data from the report identified almost 200,000 violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the federal law regarding the cleanliness of water systems. According to the report, drinking water systems that violated the law were 40 percent more likely to occur in places with higher percentages of residents who were people of color.
DigDeep's Navajo Water Project is an initiative that delivers clean running water to the people of the Navajo Tribal Nation. On the Navajo Nation, 30% of families live without clean running water, often driving miles to collect water for their families. The Navajo Water Project installs water systems near family homes for free. In 2021, the US passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which allocates 50 billion dollars to improve water infrastructure.