WASHINGTON>> The Justice Department on Friday celebrated its decision to drop a federal lawsuit against a Louisiana petrochemical plant accused of worsening cancer risks for residents in a majority-Black community, saying the dismissal showed that officials are “delivering on President (Donald) Trump’s promise to dismantle radical DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs and restore integrity to federal enforcement efforts.”

The dismissal Wednesday of the 2-year-old case underscored the Trump administration’s commitment to “eliminate ideological overreach and restore impartial enforcement of federal laws,” Justice said.

At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew its formal referral of the case to the Justice Department. The agency said the action aligns with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s pledge to end the use of “environmental justice” as an enforcement tool that Zeldin said was too often used to advance liberal ideological priorities.

Dismissal of the case unraveled one of former President Joe Biden’s highest-profile targets for an environmental justice effort aimed at improving conditions in places disproportionately harmed by decades of industrial pollution. Biden’s EPA sued the Denka Performance Elastomer plant in early 2023, alleging it posed an unacceptable cancer risk and demanding cuts in toxic emissions of cancer-causing chloroprene.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana and was formally withdrawn Wednesday.

The action is one of a series the Trump administration has taken as it moves quickly to reverse the environmental justice focus of Biden’s administration, placing about 170 environmental-justice-focused staffers on administrative leave. Dropping the Denka case relieves pressure on a company that has spent years fighting federal lawsuits and investigations over its impact on public health.

Denka, based in Japan, bought the former DuPont plant in LaPlace, La., a decade ago. It’s near an elementary school in a community about 30 miles outside New Orleans.

The site produces neoprene, a synthetic rubber that is found in products such as wetsuits and laptop sleeves. The Justice Department sued the company in early 2023, accusing it of emitting unacceptable levels of chloroprene, a chemical that may be especially harmful to children.