NW Indiana Residents Question DuPont Site Cleanup Plan

Associated Press

Residents are questioning the adequacy of a proposed $22.6 million federal cleanup of the former DuPont chemical-manufacturing site.
*File photo Nick Janzen/IPB News*

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — Northwestern Indiana residents who live near an arsenic- and lead-contaminated site are questioning the adequacy of a proposed $22.6 million federal cleanup of land in and around that industrial site.

About 50 people attended Wednesday's public hearing on the plan in East Chicago. Several told U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staffers the cleanup plan for the former DuPont chemical-manufacturing site falls short.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports groundwater beneath the 440-acre Superfund site flows toward the East Calumet neighborhood where Maritza Lopez has lived her entire life.

Lopez asked during Wednesday's hearing when "this nightmare of contamination" will end, saying the EPA has known about the contamination for more than 30 years.

The EPA's $22.6 million cleanup plan will be paid for by Chemous Co., which owns the site.

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