East Bibb Twiggs Neighborhood Association v. Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission

The court's decision exemplifies the difficult task facing citizens bringing claims that government officials took certain actions for racially discriminatory reasons. The court's decision makes clear that these hurdles to establishing discrimination apply equally to claims of environmental discrimination as they do to other claims of discrimination.

In the 1980s, both the government and the public became increasingly aware of environmental problems such as waste disposal and the need for better ways of protecting the environment. At the same time, the courts continued to recognize the problems of racism and prohibit discrimination on the part of state and local government officials. This led to the rise during this time of claims of environmental racism in the federal courts. East Bibb Twiggs Neighborhood Association v. Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission represents a typical environmental discrimination case.

In 1986, Robert Mullis applied to the joint planning commission of the City of Macon and Bibb County, Georgia, for a permit to operate a waste landfill in Bibb County. The proposed landfill was to occupy an area populated predominantly by black citizens. On 30 June 1986, the commission denied the application concluding that the landfill was unacceptable because it would be located in a predominantly residential area and would involve increased noise and truck traffic through the area. However, Mullis sought and was granted a rehearing on his application. At the second hearing, Mullis addressed the concerns raised by the commission when it initially denied his application. In opposition to the application, a number of citizens expressed concern over the proposed landfill, specifically arguing that it would lower property values, increase noise and traffic, present health risks associated with vermin and insect infestation, and effect the water supply. Apparently satisfied with Mullis's resolution of the commission's concerns, the commission approved the application to operate a landfill at the proposed site.

Following the commission's approval of Mullis's application, the East Bibb Neighborhood Association and a number of individual residents in the area filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia against the commission, the commission's members, and Mullis. The plaintiffs alleged that the commission's decision to locate the landfill in a predominantly black area was based on racial discrimination, and thus violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The case was tried before District Judge Wilbur Owens, who concluded that there was no evidence that the commission's decision was racially motivated.