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HUD's Efforts to Identify and Mitigate Resident Risks for HUD Properties On or Near Contaminated Sites

HUD OIG is evaluating  HUD’s efforts to identify and mitigate resident risks for its properties on or near Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites and non-NPL sites with lead contamination.  We initiated this evaluation due to the lead poisoning of residents in an East Chicago, IN, public housing complex and the possibility that residents in thousands of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded properties across the Nation face health risks because they are living on or near other contaminated sites.

Contaminated Sites Pose Potential Health Risks to Residents at HUD-Funded Properties

The West Calumet Housing Complex (WCHC), located in East Chicago, IN, was a public housing development that opened in 1972 on top of a former lead smelting plant.  HUD and other agencies missed multiple opportunities to identify site contamination at WCHC.  As a result, WCHC residents continued living in unsafe conditions for decades, and inadequate oversight led to the lead poisoning of children in WCHC.  Between 2005 and 2015, a child living in WCHC had nearly a three times greater chance of having elevated blood lead levels than children living in other areas

HUD Has Not Referred Troubled Public Housing Agencies as the Law and Regulations Require

The Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) has not referred troubled public housing agencies (PHAs) to the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing to take them over as the law and regulations require.  Without this referral mechanism, a PHA could remain troubled for an indefinite period while conditions stagnate or deteriorate.  We identified 18 PHAs that remained troubled for more than 2 years without being referred PIH is creating a process for referring troubled PHAs, but two problems exist with its approach.  First, the draft process that we rev

The City of Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department, Detroit, MI, Did Not Administer Its Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program in Accordance With HUD’s Requirements

We audited the City of Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department’s Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program based on our analysis of the U.S.

The City of Chicago’s Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, Did Not Administer Its Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program in Accordance With HUD’s and Its Own Requirements

We audited the City of Chicago’s Department of Public Health’s (Department) Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program based on our analysis of the U.S.

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