Friday, December 4, 2009

IEPA Notifies Crystal Lake of Groundwater Contamination

Today, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reported that it notified the Crystal Lake public drinking water supply that "there has been a confirmed detection of groundwater contamination that poses a threat of exposure to the public above the Class I groundwater quality standards."

Specifically, IEPA stated that "Trichloroethylene (TCE) has been detected and confirmed in Crystal Lake’s raw (source) and finished (distributed) drinking water at 2.9 parts per billion (ppb). This level does not yet exceed the Class I groundwater quality standard for TCE of 5.0 ppb that both federal and State law allows in drinking water. However, the Right to Know provision of the Environmental Protection Act requires that the public be notified even before this Class I groundwater quality standard is exceeded in their drinking water.

"The Environmental Protection Act requires the water supply, and any secondary users, to provide notification to its customers of this contamination by mail, email, post card, text message or telephone, within five business days of official receipt of the Illinois EPA’s notice. The public drinking water supply must provide the Illinois EPA with written proof of the notifications within seven calendar days after they are sent."
 
Stay tuned to the Illinois Environmental Law Blog for more news and developments.

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