EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a change in the remediation plan for a former public housing complex site that East Chicago, Indiana, is seeking to transform into a commercial project.
The development firm Industrial Development Advantage wants to purchase the 55-acre land, which is home to the West Calumet Housing Complex, for about $2 million to build logistics, distribution and warehouse campus. The endeavor would employ hundreds of workers, IDA executives said.
“We are committed to working with local officials to achieve their community redevelopment goals,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said. “Working with East Chicago to accommodate cleanup will provide for economic development and job creation for this community.”
In 2016, more than 1,000 people were forced from the West Calumet Housing Complex after tests found high blood-lead levels in some children and some yards with lead levels over 70 times the U.S. safety standard.
The EPA’s change of the cleanup plan is dependent on the rezoning of the land and a commitment from IDA, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported Thursday.
The potential change would reduce the cleanup from what the EPA calls a residential standard - removal contaminated soil to a depth of 24 inches - to an industrial or commercial standard - removal of 12 inches.
Residential cleanup would cost about $28.8 million and take seven months, while commercial cleanup would be nearly $14.1 million and a duration of five months, according to the EPA.
Some former residents had hoped they’d be able to go back to the West Calumet Housing Complex once it was redeveloped.
But East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland argues that state law makes residential development in that area impossible, even at the EPA-recommended cleanup levels. He added that supporters of the project say it will ignite economic transformation.
“This one redevelopment is really the catalyst to what the mayor wants to do in the whole area,” said Steve Radel, an IDA executive.
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