Hazardous Waste Sites Often Found Near Federally Funded Housing

About 77,000 people living in federally assisted housing in the U.S. are at risk of being contaminated — including East Chicago residents.

By Zach Wilson
Hazardous Waste Sites Often Found Near Federally Funded Housing
In this Aug. 23, 2016 photo, a sign from the Environmental Protection Agency is posted in front of West Calumet Housing Complex houses at East Chicago, Ind. The EPA has detected high levels of lead in samples of dust and dirt tracked inside homes where soil is tainted with industrial contaminants. The contamination has resulted in the city calling for the demolition of the low-income complex and relocating its 1,000 residents. Tae-Gyun Kim / AP Photo
Hazardous Waste Sites Often Found Near Federally Funded Housing
In this Aug. 23, 2016 photo, a sign from the Environmental Protection Agency is posted in front of West Calumet Housing Complex houses at East Chicago, Ind. The EPA has detected high levels of lead in samples of dust and dirt tracked inside homes where soil is tainted with industrial contaminants. The contamination has resulted in the city calling for the demolition of the low-income complex and relocating its 1,000 residents. Tae-Gyun Kim / AP Photo

Hazardous Waste Sites Often Found Near Federally Funded Housing

About 77,000 people living in federally assisted housing in the U.S. are at risk of being contaminated — including East Chicago residents.

By Zach Wilson
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A new report led by the Shriver Center on Poverty Law found that the majority of federally assisted housing in the U.S. exists near hazardous waste sites, exposing residents to harmful toxins like lead and arsenic.

Reset checks in with the authors of the report, and a former resident of a housing complex in East Chicago, Ind.

GUESTS: Emily Coffey, staff attorney for housing justice at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney at Earthjustice

Akeeshea Daniels, activist and East Chicago resident