SEAFORD, Del. -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday that it is accepting a complaint from several organizations against the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) for allegedly discriminating against Black, Haitian, and Latino neighbors living near Bioenergy Devco's Bioenergy Innovation Center in Seaford.
This came just two days after DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin approved five permits supporting the expansion of the biogas facility.
The investigation addresses a civil rights complaint filed by several organizations, including the Delaware NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, in December 22, 2022. It alleges that both DNREC and Sussex County discriminated against nearby Black, Haitian, and Latino neighbors on the basis of race, color, and national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and EPA’s nondiscrimination regulation.
The EPA will not be opening an investigation into Sussex County.
Specifically, the Complaint alleges that DNREC failed to provide adequate information, notices and public participation opportunities to the residents living near BDC’s facility, including language services for residents with limited English proficiency (LEP), during the state environmental permit application review process for BDC’s facility.
Charito Calvachi-Mateyko of the Delaware Poor People's Campaign was involved in making the complaint. She says DNREC didn't ensure that everyone was properly informed about the expansion.
"I've been knocking on the doors of all of these neighbors and they never heard before about it," says Calvachi-Mateyko. "So that's when I knew that the people don't have the connections. Then add one more layer, add the layer that these people don't know English. Add the layer that these people are afraid to complain even if they would have known. We live in a democracy and they did not correctly, in the proper cultural manner, through the right channel, they did not inform the community."
However, Secretary Garvin recently told WBOC that DNREC held several virtual meetings and public hearings that were translated into 20 different languages, including Spanish and Haitian-Creole.
"It's often said that we need to make sure that everybody has a seat at the table," says Garvin. "I look at it a little bit differently. We need to make sure that everybody knows that there's a table, that they have an opportunity to have a seat at. That's what we've done here and that's what we try to do throughout the state."
David Sternberg with the EPA says the agency cannot comment on the investigation while it is ongoing. For now, the expansion is on hold.