Sauk Village Sued by State After Vinyl Chloride Found in Groundwater Well

According to this story from the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois Attorney General's office has sued Sauk Village, Illinois "to force cleanup of one of three groundwater wells that serve as the community's primary source of drinking water, following the discovery of vinyl chloride and fecal contamination during routine testing in 2009."

The Tribune reported that "multiple well samples collected in May 2009 showed levels of vinyl chloride –– a byproduct of certain types of manufacturing and a common pollutant in urban communities –– at 3.67 micrograms per liter, exceeding the threshold of 2 micrograms per liter considered safe by the U.S. EPA."

Sauk Village may also face civil penalties: "Sauk Village faces the maximum $50,000 fine for each violation of four separate counts, which include water contamination but also failure to store chemicals properly, drain stagnant water and implement certain control methods. They've also been fined $10,000 per violation per day since May 2009, but likely would pay only a fraction of that amount if the problem is fixed, said Scott Mulford, a spokesman for the attorney general's office."

Stay tuned to the Illinois Environmental Law Blog for more news and developments.