East Chicago lead contamination cleanup might take 3 years

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EPA officials say excavating the remaining lead and arsenic contamination near a federal Superfund site in northwestern Indiana could take another three years.

Remedial project manager Sarah Rolfes told a community meeting Saturday in East Chicago that EPA staff and contractors next month will start digging up about 250 yards in two neighborhoods near the USS Lead Superfund site.

However, work in the former West Calumet Housing Complex remains on hold. The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the EPA is still evaluating cleanup alternatives for the site as part of an amended feasibility study and expects to release a proposed plan later this summer.

About 300 families were forced from the housing complex after 2016 tests found high lead levels in blood samples from some children.

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