Of all the challenges facing Indiana homeowners and renters, environmental disasters and the harmful effects of climate change rank near the top of the list.
These environmental issues, such as children being exposed to elevated lead levels, air pollution and rising water levels due to climate change, exist today and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future.
The Central Indiana Fair Housing Center released a report in June titled, “The State of Fair Housing in Indiana – How a Changing Environment Impacts Housing,” which comprehensively detailed some of the most concerning housing and environmental issues in the state, according to the nonprofit organization.
It also drew attention to the historically disproportionate impacts of some Indiana communities.
“FHCCI research shows that Black and brown communities and families with minor children are at higher risk for environmental racism and injustice across the board,” Amy Nelson, the center's executive director, said in a news release. “Many of these symptoms are the effects of historic redlining and other discriminatory housing practices. It is our responsibility to undo these effects and ensure environmental justice for all Indianans.”
These environmental influences are turning what should be a safe haven — people's homes — into a threat to their physical and economic well-being, said Raqya Trace, associate president of Indiana Legal Services and the organization's director of health-legal partnerships.
Triss told the Indiana Lawyer that in Indiana, for example, it's estimated that 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 16 children have asthma.
She said poor air quality is known to cause children to miss school and adults to miss work, as well as hospitalizations and even deaths.
“For tenants with asthma, livability issues can become a matter of life and death if environmental factors like mold, bugs and rodents are left unchecked. These issues can lead to sick tenants missing multiple days of work, which can result in them being unable to pay rent and being evicted. They can also be evicted from housing that is causing them health and financial problems and making it difficult to find affordable, quality housing,” Trice said.
Trice said tenants who complain about their housing conditions risk being evicted or having their leases not renewed.
She said children who repeatedly miss school due to asthma attacks can have a negative impact on their academic and long-term performance as adults, which can result in them facing housing problems and increased risk of unemployment in adulthood, setting off an intergenerational cycle of adverse health and economic outcomes.
Key findings of the report
Brady Lipperger, FHCCI's associate director of management and advocacy, said the state's growing climate and environmental changes are further impacting housing for all Hoosiers.
That means housing issues should always come first when discussing environmental issues, he said.
Lipperger told Indiana Lawyer that one of the biggest things people don't realize is that the state's regional airports are a big source of lead air pollution through aviation fuel.
The report looked into what it described as “the proximity of these regional airports disproportionately impacting people of color and new immigrants.”
In one example, FHCCI studied Purdue University Airport in West Lafayette and found that although Asians make up 21.1% of West Lafayette's population, about 29.3% of residents living within 500 meters of the airport's runway identify as Asian.
The report also found that while Hispanics make up only 4.9 percent of West Lafayette's population, 9.2 percent of residents living within 500 meters of the airport runway identify as non-white Hispanic.
Citing the FHCCI report, Lipperger said cleaning up Superfund sites takes a lot of time, effort and money, which is why so many still need to be cleaned up.
“Some of them have been around since the 1980s,” Lipperger said.
The report also found that Indiana has more than 50 Superfund sites, but fewer than half have been cleaned up and returned to usable use.
FHCCI said in its report that it overlaid redline maps with the locations of Superfund sites and found that many of the sites are located in areas that were previously redlined.
For example, Black Americans are 75% more likely to live near businesses, industrial facilities, and service facilities.
The report found that, like Superfund sites, brownfields are sprawling in formerly redlined areas that are now primarily inhabited by communities of color.
About half of these sites are located within two miles of HUD-funded public housing, according to FHCCI.
The report noted that Indiana's two most diverse cities, Gary and Indianapolis, have some of the worst air quality in the country, due in part to industrial and traffic pollution, particularly in communities of color. Low tree cover may be linked to formerly redlined areas, which have been linked to heat stroke and poorer health outcomes among those areas' mostly Black and Brown residents.
Indiana's housing stock is aging, with 15 percent of housing, both owner-occupied and rental, built before 1939.
FHCCI also reported that approximately 800,000 Indiana residents are at risk of being adversely affected, and more than 270,000 Indiana residents live in areas predicted to be at risk of inland flooding.
Of those at risk, 32% of households in flood-prone areas have children and 25% have elderly people.
The report also highlighted the residual risk of lead paint and its potentially dangerous effects on children.
The Indiana State Department of Health said children in homes with the following characteristics are at higher risk for lead exposure:
ā¢ Low income.
ā¢ Racial or ethnic minority groups.
ā¢ Homes built before 1978.
ā¢ Poorly maintained housing.
ā¢ Recent immigrants (especially those from countries where spices, cosmetics, jewellery, ceramics and medicines have high lead content).
Triss said lead paint was only banned federally in 1978, and HUD estimates that about 64 million homes built before 1978 contain lead paint.
“Add to that the prevalence of lead in the air and soil surrounding homes built on or near toxic sites, and the likelihood of lead exposure increases significantly. Research shows that the effects of lead poisoning can permanently damage a child's brain, and lead exposure during development is linked to lower academic achievement, increased juvenile crime, and an increased likelihood a child will become involved with the criminal justice system as an adult,” Trice said. She added that the requirement for sellers and landlords to provide tenants with the federal “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home” disclosure pamphlet was not implemented until 1996.
Possible solutions
The FHCCI report concludes with several possible courses of action, with the group noting that “without urgent, coordinated efforts, environmental disasters will continue to plague and harm Indiana residents, particularly Black and brown communities, low-income people, people with disabilities, and families with minor children.”
FHCCI's recommendations included passing laws to make it easier for tenants to address issues critical to their housing, aggressively mandating soil testing in residential areas, expanding free legal services and right-to-advocacy programs, and supporting grassroots efforts to raise awareness of environmental injustice.
Lipperger said there are several grassroots organizations across Indiana working on discussions and solutions regarding the fair housing and environmental justice issues outlined in the FHCCI report.
He said it was important to note that the environmental damage being caused to the communities mentioned in the report was not Mother Nature's fault.
“We have to work to resolve these issues and address the concerns that we have,” Lipperger said.
Paula Brooks, environmental justice director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, said several legislative actions have been taken to address the environmental and housing-related issues raised in the report.
Brooks said Senate Bill 5, which was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb in March, will encourage homeowners across Indiana to replace lead drinking water pipes.
She said she would like to see more money allocated to cleanup and remediation of Superfund sites.
Brooks acknowledged that public officials are making the most of the funds available to them for environmental and housing issues.
The HEC director echoed Triss' observations about lead exposure in children and how it affects developmental disorders.
“We know lead is dangerous, especially to children,” Brooks said.
With housing construction underway in some parts of Indiana, Brooks said he would like to see more testing for lead in the soil done before homes are built.