Pruitt was scheduled to to tour the complex where roughly 1,000 people were ordered evacuated because of lead contamination. The situation is so severe that Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) declared a disaster emergency in February.
The pollution from the Superfund site is not the only issue facing the city. The site includes part of the former USS Lead facility along with nearby commercial, municipal and residential areas, including the West Calumet public housing complex. Joe Donnelly (D) and Sen. The Chicago office could be consolidated with another EPA office near Kansas City, Sneed reported.
The visit from Pruitt comes amid reports that the agency was considering closing the EPA Chicago office responsible for environmental regulation of six states and the Great Lakes.
A group of more than 100 environmentalists rallied Wednesday with a laundry list of concerns over the East Chicago lead contamination and the U.S. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, want government officials to look at water quality citywide.
Word came earlier this month that the matter had the new EPA chief's attention as well. "We've got to make our voice heard".
The Environmental Protection Agency's administrator has found a slogan for his embattled agency's new direction. But other stories have said the agency has been instructed to eliminate two of its regional offices.
Canada reports progress with US on lumber, "but not there yet"
Irving, Resolute FP Canada, Tolko Marketing and Sales and West Fraser Mills, applying retroactively for the previous 90 days. On Monday the USA government announced tariffs averaging 20% on softwood lumber from the Canadian companies Canfor, J.D.
Meanwhile, residents of the small, majority-minority city are still waiting for a solution.
Residents of the housing complex in IN were joined by environmental activists as they protested nearby before Pruitt arrived. "They are frustrated about that".
In response to reports, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the administration's plan "would be harmful to the environment and public health in Chicago" and the entire Great Lake region, and "all of us living in our nation's heartland" should be outraged.
While the fate of Region 5's office remains unknown, President Donald Trump's budget released in March does call for a 31 percent spending reduction to the EPA, slashing its budget by $2.6 billion. But Robert Kaplan, who is the head of the EPA's regional office, told reporters the agency is working to speed up excavation of contaminated yards and expand lead testing in drinking water - initiatives he says were Pruitt's idea.
Joseph Erbentraut covers promising innovations and challenges in the areas of food, water, agriculture and our climate.
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