In part 3 of our series about the Indiana lead contamination crisis, we ask the question that has been on a lot of viewers’ minds. Was race a factor in 1972 when local, state and federal officials signed off on constructing the West Calumet affordable housing complex on the site of 3 defunct lead factories?

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.

“DO NOT PLAY IN THE DIRT OR AROUND THE MULCH” where you live, signed, The EPA. That’s what the signs say all over West Calumet, an affordable housing complex in the industrial region of Indiana, which is being forcibly evacuated and demolished due to lead contamination.

NOTE: CAMU stands for Corrective Action Management Unit

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.