In many ways, where you live determines your quality of life. A recent fair housing report seems to agree.
A new report from the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana underscores significant environmental concerns across Indiana, including Gary and Lake County, stemming from historical redlining. The study found that historically low-income and redlined communities are more likely to be near environmentally harmful pollutants, resulting in heightened health risks and a greater likelihood of environmental-related deaths in communities of color.
Redlining, a discriminatory housing practice from the 1930s, systematically prevented Black Americans and other minority groups from buying homes in certain neighborhoods, thereby segregating the housing market. Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 sought to eliminate these practices and protect against housing discrimination, the legacy of redlining continues to drive health inequities in Black communities today.
“There’s a variety of different ways in which we found that formerly redlined communities are still being impacted by environmental racism, or environmental injustice,” said Brady Ripperger, deputy director of administration and advocacy at the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana.
“The intersectionality between race, environmental justice, and fair housing is clear,” the report states.
“Where you live matters, and unfortunately, government decisions made in the 1930s are still impacting our communities today.”
From higher flood risks to increased lead exposure and harmful contaminants from older housing, here’s how decades of redlining continue to impact Gary’s environmental injustices.
Poor Air Quality
Northwest Indiana ranked in the top 10 of most air-polluted regions in the country in 2023, according to the report.
Industrial pollution from the steel industry is a primary culprit, according to the report. A 2021 Environmental Protection Agency report found that four of the five highest-polluting industrial facilities in the U.S. were in Northwest Indiana. Gary Works, for instance, dumped 22.5 million pounds of pollutants, including 312,000 pounds into the air, 268,000 pounds into the water, and 287,000 pounds through off-site disposals.
People of color are more likely to live closer to contaminants like ash, soot, smog, and cancer-causing carcinogens. This exposure increases the risk of asthma, low birth weights, high blood pressure, and premature death.
“Today, just as it was a century ago, Black people are forced to live with an abundance of toxic land uses in their communities and bear a disproportionate burden of pollution,” said Ellis Walton, an associate attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
The Hoosier Environmental Council has highlighted that Gary’s air quality ranks as the 8th worst in the nation for cancer risk due to pollution exposure.
“If we continue to place polluters in communities like Gary without acknowledging the legacy of racism that brought us here, the health and environmental disparities the residents experience will only be exacerbated — especially as our climate continues to change for the worse,” Walton said.
Indoor air quality concerns, including exposure to radon, carbon monoxide, and lead dust, are also an important factor to safe housing conditions. Over a third of Indiana homes are estimated to have radon levels above EPA recommendations, and in 2021, 10% of adults and 7% of children in Indiana were estimated to have asthma.
Higher Flood Risk
By 2050, an estimated 295,000 properties across Indiana will face substantial flooding risks, up from 282,500 properties today. In Gary, over 10,000 properties are projected to be at high risk of flooding.
“I think the biggest thing that I want to touch upon is just the flooding concerns that we have, especially for Gary,” Rippenger said. “Gary has our fourth-highest rate of housing units that are going to be impacted by flooding by 2050. There’s about 18%, or over 10,000 housing units, that are going to be impacted by flooding.”
Lead Exposure And Older Homes
According to the report, 55% of Indiana’s housing stock was built before 1978 and may contain lead-based paint. Lead exposure is particularly hazardous for children, who absorb it at rates four times higher than adults.
Studies show that Black children are twice as likely to have elevated blood lead levels compared to white or Hispanic children in poverty. Exposure in a child’s body can affect their brain and blood, and lead to behavioral problems, while adult exposure leads to high blood pressure, kidney damage, and infertility.
Historical redlining and discriminatory housing policies forced communities of color into older, lead-based homes near interstates, high-traffic roads, and areas with high levels of chemical waste dumping, the study said.
Proximity to regional airports also predicts elevated lead exposure. According to the EPA, piston-engine aircraft are now the largest sources of airborne lead exposure in the U.S., emitting approximately 468 tons annually. Although leaded fuel was banned decades ago from vehicles in the U.S., many smaller airplanes still use leaded gasoline.
Furthermore, 57% of Black-owned homes in Indiana were built before 1980. Hazards like spray foam are commonly present in many older homes and add high amounts of carbon directly into the house, while most lead exposure to children originates from remnants of lead paint in homes built before 1978.
Older housing stock can pose additional health hazards because resources like asbestos, lead paint, and spray foam used to build those homes are now outdated and against fair housing policies.
Superfund Sites
Indiana is home to 54 Superfund sites, which are federally recognized locations requiring EPA cleanup due to toxic waste that contaminates soil, groundwater, air, and sediment. Of these, 20 have been cleaned and made reusable. Gary has five Superfund sites prioritized by the EPA for pollution cleanup.
According to the study, Gary has 87 brownfield sites, the third-highest number in the state. Brownfield sites are usually abandoned or inactive lands contaminated by hazardous substances, which pose health and environmental risks.
An analysis by the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana found that 75% of Superfund sites in Lake County are in predominantly Black or Hispanic communities, often in formerly redlined neighborhoods.
The presence of these sites poses mental, physical, and economic risks, significantly decreasing property values.
“When polluting entities are built, the cumulative environmental impacts are not taken into consideration and have negative long-term health impacts,” said Paula Brooks, environmental justice director of the Hoosier Environmental Council. “Each area is connected, so there should be a rising tide for all the environmental hazards in Gary.”