EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) — A coalition of community and environmental groups and law clinics has petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act immediately to protect East Chicago residents from lead in their drinking water.
The petition Thursday from the NAACP, the Natural Resources Defense Council and others calls on the EPA to use its emergency powers, saying the East Chicago Water Department and Indiana Department of Environmental Management haven’t adequately addressed the problem of the city’s lead water lines so far.
The EPA already has recommended anyone on city water use a filter on their taps. The groups want the EPA to immediately provide free faucet filters, order the city or state to do so, or distribute bottled water. Volunteers already are distributing donated bottled water.
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