A federal magistrate signaled last week that the courts could deny a bid by Du Pont to throw out part of a pending lawsuit for four people who got lead poisoning as children in East Chicago.
At the time, all either lived at the West Calumet Housing Complex or attended the former Carrie Gosch Elementary School, which were built on the grounds of a former lead smelter — the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site.
The lawsuit was first filed in Lake Superior Court in 2022. Of 11 plaintiffs, four tested positive for elevated lead levels in their blood and bones, but haven’t yet developed medical problems.
“That is an injury by itself,” Magistrate Abizer Zanzi wrote.
They now range in age from 11 to 21, court filings show.
The lawsuit is seeking damages for negligence and emotional distress.
In court filings, attorneys for Du Pont de Nemours and Hammond Group, LLC., which operated an adjacent facility, argued that they hadn’t proved negligence as the quartet didn’t have any tangible medical issues.
Zanzi flatly rejected this.
“(Not) all injuries must take the form of a medically diagnosed condition,” he wrote.
U.S. District Judge Philip Simon, overseeing the case, will ultimately rule on the issue.
“We are pleased with Magistrate Judge Zanzi’s recommendation to deny the motions to dismiss the negligence and emotional distress claims in this case,” said attorney Coral Odiot-Rivera, who represents the children and young adults, in a statement. “The recommendation recognizes that the confirmed presence of lead in a child’s blood or bones is an injury in itself, and that these children have stated viable claims under Indiana law. We look forward to Judge Simon’s ruling and are hopeful it will reach the same conclusion.”
Lawyers for Du Pont did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Du Pont’s former subsidiary, The Chemours Company, is also named in the suit.
Several other tangential lawsuits are still pending.
The West Calumet Housing Complex was built on the former lead smelter property in the early 1970s with generations of East Chicago residents exposed to extreme levels of toxic heavy metals, like lead and arsenic.
The U.S. EPA designated U.S.S. Lead as a Superfund site in 2009.
East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland sent letters in 2016 kicking about 1,000 residents out of the complex. It garnered nationwide media attention.
The housing complex was knocked down in 2018. The elementary school building was closed in 2016.
There is no safe level of lead exposure. It can lead to a litany of health problems, including brain and nervous system damage, learning and behavioral issues and lower IQ.
