Attorney Barry Rooth talks to CBS This Morning about the crisis at West Calumet Housing Complex. VIDEO HERE
The EPA considers any property that tests higher than 400 milligrams per kilogram of lead and 26 milligrams per kilogram of arsenic to be in need of remediation to reduce the health risk for residents. Between 2014 and 2015 the EPA sampled soil in front and back yards located in Zone 1 and Zone 3 below.
It found at least nine samples that contained more than 50,000 milligrams per kilogram of lead. The highest was 91,100 milligrams per kilogram of lead. This number is 227 times the maximum allowable amount of lead concentration in soil the EPA considers safe.
A statement on the EPA’s website tells parents to contact the East Chicago Health Department at 219-391-8467 to have their children’s blood lead levels tested.
Residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, Indiana, are seeking answers about toxic lead exposure. East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland sent letters in July 2016 advising residents they would all be relocated and their homes would be demolished.
