Gov. Holcomb signs assistance for East Chicago into law

INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Thursday a plan to indefinitely continue portions of his emergency order providing state assistance to lead-contaminated areas of East Chicago.

House Enrolled Act 1344 designates city neighborhoods contaminated by past lead manufacturing operations as "areas of special concern," and directs state agencies to continue working in those areas with federal counterparts to relocate residents and remove or remediate soil tainted by lead or arsenic.

It also requires the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to annually test the city's water supply to confirm it complies with federal lead and copper limits for drinking water.

The new statute, which took effect immediately, was sponsored by state Reps. Earl Harris, Jr., D-East Chicago; and Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron; and state Sens. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso; Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago; and Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gov-holcomb-signs-assistance-for-east-chicago-into-law/article_f1f6d8ce-91f4-59d4-b1e3-87f8b2085b53.html