News
EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA: The Environmental Advocacy Center (EAC) has formed a coalition of attorneys—experts across housing, health, and the environment—to advocate for residents exposed to lead and arsenic at extremely high levels. At this site, which was listed for cleanup under the National Priorities List in 2009 under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, residences were built on and next to soil contaminated by lead and arsenic. EAC is advocating on behalf of residents for a cleanup that provides maximize health and environmental protections. EAC’s partners include the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the Loyola Law School Health Justice Project, and University of Chicago Abrams Environmental Law Clinic.
The East Chicago case has gotten substantial publicity in recent weeks, including —
08/31/2016 Their Soil Toxic, 1100 Indiana Residents Scramble to Find New Homes | front page, New York Times
08/22/2016 East Chicago children have lead in their blood from contaminated dirt. Is this the next Flint | Washington Post
08/14/2016 Attorneys to E.C. residents: Know your legal rights | Northwest Indiana Times
EAC's advocacy efforts include writing opinion pieces for publications with broad audiences. These OpEds bring wider attention to EAC's cases, and the underlying issues, and influences government agencies, legislators, and individuals who have an interest in the subject.
Some recent OpEds by Prof. Loeb include:
Why are companies allowed to delay cleanup of toxic superfund sites
EPA lead standards leave children exposed to harm
Toxic water isn’t just in Michigan
Lead in paint is harming hundreds of thousands of children
How to reduce premature deaths linked to environmental risks
The sand mines that ruin farmland
People are calling natural gas a bridge to a sustainable future - they’re wrong
Prof. Chizewer recently published a law review article entitled, "Living with Water in a Climate-Changed World: Will Federal Policy Sink or Swim." 46 Envtl. L. 491 (2016) (forthcoming) (with Dan Tarlock).
