Displaced CWC residents struggle to find housing as July 14 deadline looms

Displaced residents of 24 units in the Community within the Corridor have refused to sign a $5,000 no-litigation settlement with the complex's developers after the detection of a carcinogen that forced a March evacuation, and some are asking for an extension of a July 14 deadline to vacate their belongings to new housing.

The residents of 19 of those units have now retained Michael Cerjak as their attorney after he filed a class action suit against the CWC developers on June 14. CWC was developed by local builder Que El-Amin.

The class action suit was filed one week after the DNR sent a letter to residents informing them that they would not be able to move into their units until early 2024, contrary to the projections of developers.

Soon after the letter was sent to residents, CWC sent its own communications to the nearly 150 displaced residents of the development's East Block, 2748 N. 32nd Street, asking them to sign voluntary lease termination that provided them with $5,000 in compensation.

However, the termination also included a mutual release that prevents residents from suing for any future damages tied to the carcinogen, Trichloroethylene or TCE, detected at the site.

When residents were originally notified about the lease terminations, they were told that they had until June 27 to find new housing which originally gave them three weeks to find new housing. On June 15, amid concerns from residents, CWC extended the move out date to July 14.

Residents are asking for an extension after not finding housing. 

“I’m hoping they can give us some extra time because I have just not been able to find somewhere to live,” Tiffany Bowen said. “I was speaking to a group of six other CWC residents and they said they also had not found housing.”

Another resident, Breana Weakley, also has not been successful finding new housing.

“I’m not eligible for rent assistance, and I haven’t been able to find anything,” Weakley told the Journal Sentinel. “I’m going to be homeless in two weeks. I am going to have to live out of my car.”

Weakley has also signed onto the lawsuit.

“My livelihood and the trauma this has inflicted on me is much more than the $5,000 they’re offering,” Weakley said.

CWC spokesperson Phill Trewyn told the Journal Sentinel that "CWC is unable to comment on any matters related to the legal action and those involved in it."

Maudwella Kirkendoll, Community Advocates chief operating officer, told the Journal Sentinel that his group has been working with roughly 60 residents to find housing.

"The timing has been a little challenging, but we are hopeful that everyone will find housing," Kirkendoll told the Journal Sentinel.

DNR and Department of Neighborhood Services acknowledge that 'there are lessons to be learned.'

The city Department of Neighborhood Services and state Department of Natural Resources have both deflected responsibility for the initial occupancy of residents in the building months before proper environmental testing had been completed by the owners.

According to DNR Field Operations Director Trevor Nobile, the department has no responsibility within the local process of permitting residences for occupancy.

The DNR can issue guidance on testing and remediation normally, but does not have the ability to permit occupancy, he said.

Milwaukee's Department of Neighborhood Services is responsible for occupancy permitting. CWC for a temporary occupancy permit for CWC East Block in July for some of the buildings.

The request was granted in September. CWC applied for permits for the remaining buildings in December that were also granted.

According to DNS Commissioner Erica Roberts, DNS was not aware of ongoing remediation efforts or environmental concerns at the site when the permit was granted.

DNS is not statutorily required to check with the DNR about environmental concerns at a site.

According to Roberts, there have been cases of developers applying for occupancy permits while remediation is ongoing. However, these developers are generally “in close consultation” with the relevant state agencies to ensure resident safety.

She called CWC’s decision to move residents in before the necessary testing was completed “unwise.”

In January, two months before the evacuation, DNS and DNR officials met. However, DNS did not inform the state’s environmental agency that people were living in the apartments. Similarly, DNR did not inform the city of ongoing environmental concerns at the site.

DNS was informed of the evacuation order on March 25, the day residents were forced to leave their homes in a matter of hours.

Roberts told the Journal Sentinel that her department is looking at ways to prevent what happened at CWC —a former industrial site converted to residential — from happening to other residents.

“We are definitely investigating what options and what types of policies and procedures we might want to put in place to better capture information for these large scale industrial conversions,” Roberts told the Journal Sentinel. “This is all very preliminary, but we would like to know early on in the process well before permits are even applied that there are concerns we should be made aware of.”

Nobile told the Journal Sentinel that in general there are “always lessons to be learned” and “ways to improve” after remediation processes and projects.

Nobile declined to explain specific changes the DNR may make after the CWC evacuation.

What is TCE, and have residents reported any symptoms? 

TCE is a colorless liquid and carcinogen that is used in factories to clean metal and is also an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers and spot removers, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Exposure to TCE can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, unconsciousness, liver damage and death. Some residents have reported these symptoms.

The testing of the site that led to the initial evacuation order revealed that some parts of the building had more than double the legal limit for TCE of 6.3 micrograms per cubic meter, while the laundry room area of the east block had 60 times the legal limit of TCE.

Some residents, including lead plaintiff Bowen, have already reported symptoms that they allege in their lawsuit may be tied to TCE exposure.

After moving into the residence in February, Bowen and her son reported headaches and nausea that led them to call paramedics to their home twice, the suit says.

Others, like Tonya Hill, have also reported health concerns.

"I had no health problems before I moved into CWC in November,” Hill told the Journal Sentinel. “After, I kept having to go to the hospital and had an infection in my whole body. I had rashes, felt nauseous, could not concentrate and my daughter was the same. When my doctor heard about the TCE, he said that could explain what was happening to me."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Community within the Corridor residents struggle to find housing