East Chicago, Indiana - August 24, 2016
Stephanie King visits the East Chicago Housing Authority's West Calumet Management Office as she prepares to move her five children out of the neighborhood. Two and a half years ago, King left Chicago's South Side to find a safer environment for her children, but her youngest son, Josiah King, 3, pictured at right, had blood lead levels test results above the CDC’s 5 mg/d threshold for action.
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
