Barry Rooth, attorney for residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex, speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in Munster, Ind. Rooth discussed his firm's investigation into lead contamination at the complex. (AP Photo/Tae-Gyun Kim)

Lawyer investigating lead at Indiana housing complex

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. – An attorney for families in an Indiana public housing complex slated to be demolished because of lead contamination says he’s investigating whether public officials knew about the problem and allowed children to be “poisoned.”

Officials in East Chicago notified some 1,000 residents about the soil contamination this summer.

The complex is on the former site of a plant that melted lead and copper. It was added to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of priority cleanup sites in 2009.

City attorney Carla Morgan says East Chicago officials learned the extent of the problem at specific addresses in the complex in May.

Attorney Barry Rooth says blood tests have shown some of the 85 children he represents have unsafe lead levels. State officials previously said preliminary blood tests indicated 29 people with high lead levels.

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