The EPA is now working to clean homes affected by lead and arsenic contamination in East Chicago, Ind. (WLS)
By Leah Hope
Friday, September 02, 2016 05:38PM
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (WLS) -- The EPA is now working to clean homes affected by lead and arsenic contamination in East Chicago, Indiana.
Hundreds of families there are being forced to relocate, but many are still living in their homes until they can find alternate housing.
Some residents of the East Chicago community have seen lots of new faces in recent weeks, including some politicians visiting the neighborhood where high levels of lead have been found.
"They are trying to show their face but behind closed doors there's nothing happening. There's nothing to actually help the people," said Karlotte Carey.
Carey is trying get her daughter and grandson out of the West Calumet Housing Complex.
But finding a new place with a public housing voucher is challenging, something U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana) acknowledges.
"There is a number of different steps involved is the way it is. It is not well, we have another place located for you, the residents have to find another place in many cases on their own," Donnelly said.
In the meantime, the family is especially concerned about one-year-old Kendal, whose skin is peeling of his fingers.
"He was vomiting just out of nowhere, so I took him to get tested and now we are just waiting," said Angelica McKenzie.
State and local health officials have set up free lead testing clinics at a nearby school.
"They are concerned, they want to know are my levels high? What do I need to do?" said Arnita Fowlkes of the East Chicago Health Department,
Health officials urge those with high lead levels to change their environments and diets with foods the inhibit lead absorption.
"We encourage folks to drink more milk, to eat more oranges, to eat more green vegetables that have high levels of iron in them," said Indiana Health Commissioner Jerome Adams.
The EPA is also offering free house cleaning in Zone 1 until the residents can find permanent housing elsewhere.
The crews clean walls ceilings and floors, all surfaces that may have lead dust tracked into home.
"We are looking to reduce the potential for people's exposure to dust and potential lead inside their home," said EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinator Jim Mitchell.
The EPA has around 100 people working in East Chicago.
The EPA has started free lead testing clinics at Carrie Gosch Elementary School, 455 E 148th St, East Chicago, on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
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East Chicago families grapple with relocation due to soil contamination
Families forced from their homes want help for their children after being exposed to contaminated soil. (WLS)
By Leah Hope
Tuesday, August 30, 2016 08:05PM
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (WLS) -- Hundreds of families want to relocate due to dangerous levels of lead and arsenic in the ground at the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, Indiana.
The West Calumet neighborhood is typically packed with kids playing outside on a late summer afternoon. But after their parents found out about lead contamination in the soil last month, the kids were told to stay inside and play.
Now parents are looking for other places to move their families due to the contamination in the soil.
The Allen family's challenge is constant with five children ages two to 10, who are only allowed to play indoors.
Their home and their East Chicago development, named West Calumet Housing Complex, was built next to old factories that left dangerous levels of lead in the soil, affecting their homes and their children.
"We have to answer their questions as to why they can't play outside anymore. It's taken a major toll on us," said mother Shantel Allen.
The Allens are now among the families getting legal help after Allen says everyone in their family, as well as everything in their house, tested positive for high levels of lead.
"We should have been among the first to know, because these are our lives and our children," said Allen.
Attorneys are investigating how things got so bad and how to help the families.
"The lead contamination in West Calumet and surrounding neighborhoods constitutes a humanitarian crisis," said attorney Barry Rooth.
Last month, the mayor of East Chicago informed residents of the contamination and recommended they relocate.
Some residents tell us they can't find apartments with the housing vouchers they have been offered.
Kamia Edwards, another mother in the housing complex, is now trying to keep her eight-month-old son off the ground outside and inside.
"We hold him. We take turns holding him and have him on the couch and on the bed. We don't have him on the floor," said Edwards.
Edwards says she has already noticed signs of lead poisoning in her five-year-old child.
She wants out but hasn't found a place she can afford.
ABC7 reached out to the city's mayor and the city's attorney, but have not heard back.