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Lead Pollution Closes a Public Housing Complex and a Newly Built School in Indiana

About once a week for much of 2015, Kamia Edwards’ son was too sick to go to school.

About once a week for much of 2015, Kamia Edwards’ son was too sick to go to school.

 

Some days he was so hot, he’d take off his shirt and lie on the bare floor of their apartment. He complained of headaches and stomachaches. He vomited weekly.

 

His pediatrician recommended a new diet for the 5-year-old boy, but the symptoms persisted, Edwards said. Finally, in September, the doctor decided to test the child for lead exposure.

 

His blood results came back positive for high levels of lead.

 

Edwards and her two children are among more than 1,000 residents who learned last month that they’ll be relocated from the West Calumet Housing Complex because of lead contamination.

 

But the city of East Chicago’s sudden decision to shut and demolish the public housing  complex — just days after the Environmental Protection Agency informed some residents that their homes would be cleaned up at no cost — has frustrated and bewildered residents. And the sudden decision to shutter the housing complex and a recently constructed elementary school raises serious questions about the government’s handling of a public health crisis that was on the EPA’s radar as early as 1992.

 

“People that live there, they are upset, frustrated and mad because they were surprised overnight that the situation had happened,” said state Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago.

 

“… This is a potential catastrophe that could be approaching the same level as Flint, Michigan.”

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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