"Already concerned about high levels of toxic manganese in the air near a Southeast Side company, federal environmental regulators announced Thursday they are significantly escalating their investigation by searching for contaminated yards in a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is stepping in after the Chicago Department of Public Health had 27 yards in the East Side neighborhood tested for the potent neurotoxin this year. A city contractor discovered that about 70 percent of the properties were tainted by manganese at levels well above the state standard for cleanups at abandoned industrial sites slated for residential development.

Manganese in three of the yards exceeded a less stringent federal standard that often triggers the excavation of contaminated soil."

Michael Hawthorne reports for the Chicago Tribune May 9, 2018. [2]