ELR Citation: ELR 20200
No(s). 3:90CV000680 (E.D. Va. Jun 21, 1991)

The court holds that the siting of landfills in a Virginia county from 1969 to the present has had a disproportionate impact on Afro-American residents, but a challenged siting did not result from intentional discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The court holds that only intentionally discriminatory official action resulting in a racially disproportionate impact violates the Equal Protection Clause. The court finds that the county board's siting decision reveals nothing unusual or suspicious. When an earlier siting decision fell through, the board reasonably considered the alternative site now in dispute because it had already been tested and found environmentally suitable for landfill development. The court holds that the Equal Protection Clause does not impose an affirmative duty to equalize the impact of official decisions on different racial groups.

[A prior decision in this litigation is published at 22 ELR 20199.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Sa'ad El-Amin
1215 W. Main St., Richmond VA 23220
(804) 359-4640

Counsel for Defendants
John G. Douglass, Jonathan S. Geldzahler
Wright, Robinson, McCammon, Osthimer & Tatum
411 E. Franklin St., Ste. 400, Richmond VA 23219
(804) 783-1100