Clemencia Njoroge
Environmental Science
Toxic Waste and Environmental Justice
December 8, 2021
1. Keisha Daniels lives in a public housing complex in East Chicago where the lead and arsenic
contamination levels were over 100 x safe levels. How did residents in the public housing
complex find out about the contamination problem?
They found out from letters in their mailboxes
2. Define environmental INJUSTICE in your own words.
When the environmental care is not at the standard that it should be for that area, the
community, or the safety of the people in it. Also having the most environmentally unsafe
neighborhoods around people of color and not doing enough to fix it.
3. According to the podcast, what is remedial level action?
an action taken to effect long-term restoration of environmental quality
4. In the 1980’s government agencies found out that there was lead in the soil of the East
Chicago public housing community. For years, they did nothing while people lived there and
became sick with cancer and other chronic health issues. What year did they finally list the area
as a superfund site?
The housing complex and surrounding areas got listed as a superfund site in 2009
5. Why does this area in East Chicago also have lead in their drinking water?
It has lead because it is an old city and it has lead drinking water service lines. Lead enters
drinking water is through the corrosion of lead or galvanized iron plumbing. The EPA
treats the water to prevent the lead from leaching into the water, but they ended up finding
out that the treatment wasn’t working.
6. Do you think the the EPA's response to the drinking water problem was sufficient? Why or
why not?