“We think we can probably address 20 or so homes this construction season”, Ballotti said. 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.
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Shantel Allen, right, a resident of the West Calumet Housing Complex reacts with her husband, Charles during a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 in Munster, Ind. The EPA found high levels of lead in soil in parts of the complex. One of the people named in the lawsuit says she is anxious she will not be able to find a safe and healthy neighborhood. The delay, he said, was because of problems with the contractor the agency hired to tabulate the data and concerns about the quality of the data. The housing authority did not mention moving or relocation assistance at the briefing.
“We just hope that it all works out, especially for the families”, Williams said.
The U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development is leaving “no stone unturned” in search of more dollars to move residents out of the lead-contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex.
Director of Public Affairs at the Indiana State Department of Health JenO’Malley says the department started helping East Chicago’s health department with testing in July and since then they’ve screened almost 500 adults and children.
HUD began releasing relocation vouchers in August, and residents can start using them September 1.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development provided almost $2 million to help residents to pay for new rentals beginning next month. The additional $1.2 million would be used to pay for security deposits, application fees and moving and packing materials, Cunningham said.
“I’m ready to go”, said Devon Warren, a resident of the West Calumet complex.
The EPA is coming under fire for its response to the lead levels.
Kaplan said the EPA had in fact warned West Calumet residents to avoid the soil for at least a decade, with public notices and community meetings. The teams are washing walls, floors, furniture and some of the residents’ belongings, according to the EPA, and cleaning ventilation and air conditioning systems.
“Residents have been provided vouchers for temporary hotel living until their homes are done being cleaned”.
The EPA first began working at the site in 2008 and had it added to the superfund National Priorities List in 2009, Ballotti said. That process will take months to complete, and there’s a lot of confusion about how it will work.
The current cleanup plan is based on a 2014 consent decree, approved by the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana, between the EPA, Department of Justice, state of Indiana, the Atlantic Richfield Co. and E.I. du Pont De Nemours regarding the cleanup of the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery site.
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“These free clinics are another example of the ongoing efforts by our state agencies in support of the residents of East Chicago”, Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb said.
