Joshua Foreman, 3, plays at his home in the West Calumet Housing Complex earlier this year in East Chicago. Staff photo by Jonathan Miano
EAST CHICAGO — About 250 current and former West Calumet residents put state, local and federal officials on notice they intend to file a lawsuit alleging the government knew about the highly lead- and arsenic- contaminated soil but did nothing to prevent future exposure.
The 251 individual tort claims — filed by attorneys Walter Alvarez and Eric Pavlack — put on notice the city of East Chicago, Mayor Anthony Copeland, the city’s department of public and environmental health, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Department of Health, the state of Indiana, Gov. Mike Pence and Carrie Gosch Elementary School. Anyone wishing to sue a government entity first must file a notice of intent to sue.
The 251 residents represented by Alvarez's law firm include 187 children, according to the firm's news release.
The pending lawsuits — filed Oct. 27 — claim city and state officials knew about the pollution at the construction of the 346-unit West Calumet Housing Complex, built in 1972.
The complex and Carrie Gosch Elementary School sit on about 50 acres of the roughly 400-acre USS Lead Superfund site. Soil testing in the area began decades ago. Two lead smelter operations also once operated on the site of the public housing complex and the school, according to EPA documents.
“My question is this a horrendous mistake or a quiet cover-up? ... I am horrified that the only present relief is going to be a long and arduous legal battle,” Alvarez said in a news release.
The suit contends numerous government agencies were aware as early as the 1960s that East Chicago residents were exposed to contaminated soil at the site. It also claims the school “knew or should have known of (the) dangers” because it was instructed to perform blood tests on students.
School City of East Chicago Superintendent Paige McNulty said she could not comment due to the pending litigation.
Carla Morgan, attorney for the city, said Tuesday the city could comment on pending litigation. Copeland has previously said his administration didn't learn of the full extent and magnitude of the contamination until this spring.
The mayor notified residents in a letter last month they should relocate.
The recent filing is not the first time legal action has been taken against local, state and federal officials for East Chicago contamination.
Other suits target the companies that once operated there, while another lawsuit — filed in September — alleges the city’s forced relocation from West Calumet and plans to demolish the complex violate residents’ civil rights.
Barry Rooth, a Merrilville-based attorney, was the first to file a tort claim notice — back in August — on behalf of families.
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