INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed a bill pushing state agencies to continue to address the dangerously high lead levels in East Chicago’s soil.
The proposal by Democratic Rep. Earl Harris, Jr. of East Chicago designates contaminated neighborhoods as areas of “special concern.”
It requires the Indiana’s housing authority to work with federal officials on resident relocation and requires the Department of Environmental Management to test water. It also encourages IDEM to assist federal environmental officials in sampling and removing contaminated soil.
Holcomb wrote in a statement Thursday he is proud of the “all-hands-on-deck approach” from local, state and federal officials.
Holcomb and other Indiana leaders joined the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, in East Chicago to tour an affected public housing complex Wednesday.