City Manager Steve Carter will represent the City at an Illinois House committee hearing to support a Bill that would allow the City to block a proposal to dispose of toxic chemicals (PCBs) at the Clinton landfill. The landfill is located over the Mahomet aquifer — the City’s only source of drinking water. The House Environmental Health Committee will meet at 1:00 p.m. on August 16 at the Piatt County Farm Bureau, 427 West Marion Street in Monticello.
“The Mahomet Aquifer is the principal source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents in central Illinois and provides drinking water for all of Champaign. The City will continue to make every effort to protect our sole source of water,” said City Manager Steve Carter. “This Bill, if passed, will allow us to have a stronger voice in decisions that affect the quality of our water.” The aquifer is the sole source of community water supplies for 88 or more municipalities, and provides a critical source of water for industry and agricultural irrigation.
The City supports House Bill 6153, which would require that counties and municipalities located above the aquifer approve of new pollution control sites, such as the proposed PCB disposal site at the Clinton landfill. Local Representatives Naomi Jakobsson and Chapin Rose have been leaders in working with the City to help make this Bill possible.
The City is working with other governments including the Cities of Urbana, Bloomington, and Decatur, the Town of Normal, Village of Savoy, and Champaign County. Organizations who also support this bill include the University of Illinois, Sierra Club Illinois, Illinois Environmental Council, Environment Illinois, Prairie Rivers Network, Illinois Rural Water Association, and Faith in Place.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the hearing. Comments will be accepted, but speakers are required to register in advance either online at http://witnessslips.ilga.gov/ or in person prior to the start of the hearing.