Many decisions that affect the local environment are made at the municipal level, on zoning boards or in city council meetings. CLC partners with residents and community organizations to identify, understand, and respond to land use and zoning proposals that may negatively impact surrounding residents via air, water, or land pollution. We work to ensure that local decision-makers have the information and conduct the due diligence needed to protect the community’s environmental health needs.
Recently:
- CLC submitted comments to the U.S. EPA, alongside partner organizations and local residents, urging improvements to a proposed interim cleanup plan for lead-contaminated residential soils at the Federated Metals Superfund Site in Whiting, Indiana. Their comments recommend adopting more protective cleanup standards, clarifying the agency’s long-term vision for site remediation, improving communication and notice to affected residents, and providing clearer, household-level guidance on lead exposure risks. In April 2026, CLC and its partners emphasized that, after years of delay, the cleanup must be both thorough and responsive to community concerns to effectively protect public health.
- CLC supported local advocates’ questions about and challenges to a proposed soil recycling facility that would have brought up to 125 dump trucks per day carrying construction debris into Gary’s Aetna neighborhood. Our client sought a traffic study and additional guardrails to protect the community from potential long-term problems with contaminated soils and aggregation of wastes. In February 2026, the Gary Common Council voted down the special use variance for the facility.
- CLC encouraged the East Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals to exercise caution as it reviewed an application from Universal Metal Recycling to locate a scrap metal recycling facility, including a metal shredder, near community baseball fields and St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, Indiana. In November 2025, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted not to recommend the application, and the East Chicago Common Council rejected the application in December 2025.
