Part 1 Of Multi-Video Series

“Thank God for Flint,” that’s what one resident of the West Calumet Complex in northern Indiana said, speaking of another lead poisoning catastrophe that also fell under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5. Of course, no one is grateful or glad that the people of Flint, Michigan were poisoned by lead pipes after a cost-cutting measure was implemented by the state government. But some of the long time residents of the West Calumet, an affordable housing complex built in 1972 on the site of lead smelting factories, believe that the “justice deferred” for 4 decades might have been “justice denied” if not for the increased awareness.

Three weeks ago, West Calumet residents received a letter from the Anthony Copeland, the first African American mayor of East Chicago, Indiana, telling them that they would be forcibly removed from their homes due to lead contamination. Soon after, the EPA arrived with four trailers and set up camp, informing residents that they would soon be offering in-home clean-up operations. They put down mulch as a stop-gap measure to protect children from the lead particles embedded in the soil, put up signs, and passed out flyers about living with contamination.

TYT Politics’ reporters Jordan Chariton and Eric Byler investigate an inter-generational tragedy decades in the making.

Special thanks to Daniel Luepker and Kit Cabello of Veracity In Defiance who attended our TYT Meetup in Chicago and the very next morning accompanied us to Indiana to help us shoot this story. Thanks also to Mia Park who helped Eric Byler with additional filming.