East Chicago, Indiana - August 24, 2016
Shantel Allen -- whose two-year-old Samira Allen's blood lead levels test results were 33, which is remarkably above the CDC’s 5 mg/d threshold for action -- speaks about her family's experience in the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, Indiana. Allen said her whole family, including 5 young children, herself and her husband, have elevated lead levels.
The West Calumet Housing Complex, which is currently home to about 1,200 people, is located on a 79-acre Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site where a USS Lead facility was located in East Chicago, Indiana. Up until 1985, a lead refinery, a copper smelter and a secondary lead smelter were also in the area. The houses were built between the late 1960s and early 1970s.
CREDIT: Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times 30194607A
