East Chicago Lead Contamination Crisis

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — The federal government shutdown has forced the cancellation of a public hearing on a cleanup proposal for the site of a former housing complex in northwestern Indiana.

The Times reports Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency says the Jan. 10 hearing on the West Calumet Housing Complex site won't be held.

Public comments on the EPA's cleanup plans were being accepted until Jan. 14. Those plans include a 2-foot-deep removal of lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil. The agency estimates the cleanup will cost about $26 million.

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead with plans for a 2-foot-deep removal of lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil at the site of a northwestern Indiana public housing that's been evacuated and demolished over health concerns.

WHITING, Ind. (AP) — Federal and state environmental officials say a northwestern Indiana factory has repeatedly violated federal health standards by releasing alarmingly high concentrations of airborne lead in two cities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management accused Whiting Metals of the violations Thursday, based on three months of air quality testing in Hammond and Whiting.

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking access to nine properties within a Superfund site in northwestern Indiana that have never been tested for lead or arsenic contamination.

The EPA says in court filings that the East Chicago properties may be tainted with lead or arsenic at levels that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. The agency says it hasn't been able to get permission from property owners to test the soil.