Environmental groups have been stepping up pressure on federal agencies over coal-ash pollution in the state, and now there is another public health issue. The E-P-A has ordered the demolition of the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago after high levels of lead and arsenic were found in the soil. Residents got a letter last month saying the ground has been contaminated since at least 2014, and some environmental law experts say the national attention on the water contamination in Flint, Michigan may have ignited this action. Lindsay Shipps with the Citizen Action Coalition says lawmakers continually ignore environmental issues that affect public health, and because of that there’s not a lot of trust.
The thousand-plus residents who live in the housing complex have been told they should get tested for lead. Many say they’re angry because the E-P-A knew about the contamination but didn’t inform anyone until recently.
Shipps says another issue eroding public trust centers around the B-P refinery in Whiting. Earlier this month, B-P was criticized for accidentally discharging about five times more industrial waste than allowed into Lake Michigan.
Even though Shipps says Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Pence has not been environmentally friendly to the state, she thinks the national spotlight he’s under since he agreed to be Donald Trump’s running mate will push Indiana’s problems into the forefront.
Shipps says Indiana has a black eye when it comes to the environment because there’s not rigorous enough regulation of large companies like B-P, or of the state’s 84 coal-ash dump sites.