As cleanup work continues at the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, the Environmental Protection Agency might consider amending the federal documents defining the remediation work's scope, according to a source familiar with the situation.
"We're talking," but nothing has been formalized, the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said.
Rachel Bassler, press officer with Region 5 of the EPA, said the agency is now focused on cleaning the apartments in the West Calumet complex and isn't in a position to talk about any changes to the documents.
Amendments to the remediation plans are partially based on what the city decides to do with the site, Bassler said.
"We just don't know what this is all going to look like," Bassler said.
The city and the East Chicago Housing Authority have considered demolishing the residential units in the West Calumet Housing Complex because of the contamination issues at the site.
East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland told residents at a public hearing earlier in August that the Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide them with relocation vouchers, giving them the chance to move out of the lead- and arsenic-contaminated properties.
"This is about the safety of your children and you," Copeland said during the hearing.
Bassler said if changes to the document are necessary, the EPA would amend its record of decision — the document that defines the scope of a project.
A consent decree is an agreement between the EPA and potentially responsible parties, and amending the record of decision would require public meetings conducted by federal officials, the source said. The EPA would solicit public comment from stakeholder groups, which would include the city, members of the public and other interested parties.
The U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana, in 2014, approved a consent decree between the EPA, Department of Justice, state of Indiana, the Atlantic Richfield Co. and E.I. du Pont De Nemours regarding the cleanup of the U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery site. The agreement covered only zones 1 and 3 of the site.
Zone 1, which includes the West Calumet Housing Complex and Carrie Gosch Elementary, runs from McCook Avenue to the Indiana Harbor Canal, with 151st Street on the south and 148th Street on the north. Zone 3 includes the land between East Huish Drive and Parrish Avenue, with Chicago Avenue on the north and 149th Place to the south.
Based on the agreement, the two companies would cover roughly $26 million in cleanup costs, according to the EPA.
Some of the remediation steps outlined in the agreement included excavating and removing close to 2 feet of soil and replacing it with clean dirt, according to the agreement, and reseeding or resodding the soil. The EPA estimated, at the time of the agreement, that 723 residential yards would be cleaned.
EPA teams at the West Calumet Housing Complex are in the process of cleaning individual residential units. The teams are washing walls, floors, furniture and some of the residents' belongings, according to the EPA, and cleaning ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The efforts to relocate tenants at the housing complex started after the EPA began finding lead levels in the soil that far exceeded safe levels. During testing, the EPA found some parcels where the lead levels were above 5,000 parts per million, the Post-Tribune reported in July, and the standard level is 400 parts per million.
"When I say you are in harm's way, I cannot multiply enough times the irreparable danger to your children (living in West Calumet)," Copeland said.
Residents who still want to have their residences cleaned can visit the EPA trailers on McCook Street within the housing complex.