$1.2M needed to move Indiana residents away from lead

More than a thousand residents of a public housing complex in East Chicago, Ind., are now forced to relocate because of dangerously high lead levels in the area’s soil. The residents were recently notified of the results. Their home and their East Chicago development was built next to old factories that have left unsafe levels of lead in the soil, in their homes and in their children.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development provided almost $2 million to help residents to pay for new rentals beginning next month.

The EPA began suing the companies responsible for the contamination in 2009, and by 2012 it had a cleanup plan that involved removing all lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil from the housing complex. ABC7 reached out to the city’s mayor and the city’s attorney, but have not heard back.

But the most pressing question for residents is why they were not informed until last month that even the top six inches of soil in their yards had up to 30 times more lead than the level considered safe for children to play in, and that it had hazardous levels of arsenic. “It’s just shocking that overnight to find out these levels are this high”.

When the news came out about the lead, Warren said that made her more eager to leave the complex. In a letter to Kaplan dated June 16, 2016 and released through The Northwest Indiana Times, Mayor Copeland said the EPA was slow to respond to early indications of high lead levels and then was slow to release the information to city officials and the public. In a lawsuit against the housing authority, residents claim the plan violates federal civil rights laws. “I cannot multiply this enough times, to tell you the irreparable damage that can happen to your child”, Copeland told residents of the complex on August 3. Gill said she is anxious about bringing potentially lead-contaminated furniture to a new place. She said there aren’t a lot of housing opportunities, and some people will have to relocate despite having their families here and relationships in the community. “I don’t think any housing authority of any size could handle issuing [346] vouchers in three weeks and do it well”.

HUD began releasing relocation vouchers in August, and residents can start using them September 1. She is also anxious that she won’t be able to find an apartment in a safe and healthy neighborhood.

Carmen Gill, a West Calumet resident since March 2011, said she scheduled a deep cleaning of her home with the EPA during Tuesday’s open house.

For the moment, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry advises parents to prevent children from playing in dirt or mulch, to wash their children’s toys regularly and to wash children’s hands after they play outside.