Madigan
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan obtained a court order on Friday to make sure that residents in Sauk Village have immediate access to drinking water that is safe.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency notified officials in Sauk Village on July 16 that two wells in its public water supply system were approaching maximum contaminant level for vinyl chloride. The village stopped using a third well in 2009.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hyman entered the order on Friday stipulating that Sauk Village make safe drinking water available to any consumer that requests it at its public water supply. The requests can be made during daily distribution hours at the Paesel Community Center next to the Sauk Village Police Department.
"I strongly advise residents to take full advantage of the opportunity to obtain clean drinking water," Madigan said. "Clean water is absolutely necessary at any time but especially now with the extreme temperatures we're experiencing."
The court order requires Sauk Village to distribute drinking water to residents of the area until further order or an agreement of Sauk Village and the state.
Madigan's office also filed a motion for leave to file a second amended compliant against Sauk Village after the IEPA referred the latest public water supply issues to her office. The motion alleges that Sauk Village has failed to provide safe water to its residents due to the ongoing contamination of vinyl chloride in its water supply. Because of the alleged inability of Sauk Village, the operator and owner of a public water supply, to keep the water safe, a substantial public health threat and endangerment to the environment has resulted.