WARRENTON, N.C. — Growing up in Goldsboro, Michael Regan heard his parents talk about the 1982 Warren County protests against a PCB landfill, demonstrations that played a pivotal role in establishing the environmental justice movement in the United States.
On Saturday, Regan — now the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — stood in front of the Warren County Courthouse, just miles from that protest site, to announce that the federal agency is growing its environmental justice efforts, backed by $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act.
During a Saturday morning interview, Regan told The News & Observer, “In addition to being included in the policy and regulatory development, this office will be able to push resources to these communities and have these community-oriented solutions matched with their participation to hopefully give EPA and the communities a better shot at protecting those who have been disproportionately impacted for far too long.”
