EAST CHICAGO — About 70 people looking for answers showed up at Monday's meeting on the proposed demolition of the West Calumet Housing Complex and its impact on the environment.
Jim Cunningham, deputy regional administrator for HUD, told the crowd the meeting was limited to the environmental assessment related to the demolition and that all comments would be compiled and responses made available.
"HUD will take public comment through July 6," Cunningham said.
Some were aggravated that not all questions could be answered during the meeting and asked what the land might be used for in the future.
A HUD handout at the meeting said, "There is no known proposed future use of the site following demolition at this time."
However, EPA said it plans to clean up the property to residential standards because of a letter from Mayor Anthony Copeland. In the letter, which Copeland said he hand-delivered to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in April, the mayor wrote he wanted EPA to support efforts to return the site to residential use and "help create HUD support for demolition and new housing at the site."
A remediation action plan, prepared for the East Chicago Housing Authority by Amereco Engineering Inc., said demolition of the housing complex is necessary to protect human health due to contaminants found at the site.
John Blosky, environmental engineer for Amereco, said water will be sprayed continuously on building materials as they are toppled and loaded onto trucks to be taken to a landfill.
He said plans would be put in place to handle water being sprayed during demolition and to control any rainwater to ensure it is collected and filtered before being put into the city sewer system.
Air samples are to be collected at the perimeter of the site and near the demolition.
"We will check it for airborne asbestos fibers, dust in general, arsenic and lead," Blosky said.
He said wind screens will be put up on security fencing to slow the wind that might contain dust.
"If the wind gets too high, we will stop the work," Blosky said.
EPA officials said Saturday they will monitor work conducted by Amereco and its subcontractors at the site. EPA also said it would consider posting air monitoring data online during demolition if the companies performing the work make it available.
One person said disturbance of the soil should only take place as part of a complete cleanup of the area. Others voiced concern about the height of the fencing and its ability to block dust, and whether contaminated groundwater would be used for spraying at the site.
Tara Adams, a former West Calumet Housing Complex resident who moved to Hobart after the housing authority issued a relocation order, said it was disturbing to hear of plans to demolish the complex. West Calumet was built in the early 1970s on the footprint of the former Anaconda Lead Products smelter.
"How can you say that an area that we were forced to move out of is not going to be hazardous to an individual's health?," Adams asked.
Maritza Lopez, a lifelong resident of the Superfund site, said tests have show she had lead, arsenic and cadmium in her system.
HUD's environmental analysis of the demolition plan does not adequately consider the impact it would have on the community, Lopez said.
"HUD should prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement," Lopez said.
Because HUD has made a preliminary determination that the project would have no significant impact on the human environment, an Environmental Impact Statement is not required.