Order Ensures Safe Drinking Water for Marengo Area Residents
Chicago —(ENEWSPF)–June 3, 2016. Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced a consent order with 300 West LLC and The Arnold Engineering Co. that will provide residents near Marengo, Ill., with a permanent source of safe drinking water. The order will also require the companies to investigate and remediate on- and off-site soil and groundwater contamination.
The order was entered this week in McHenry County Circuit Court and provides a permanent drinking water solution for homeowners whose private well water safety was compromised by groundwater contamination from the site located at 300 N. West Street in Marengo. Under the order, Arnold and the property’s owner, 300 West, have agreed to extend and install the city of Marengo’s municipal water infrastructure to nearby residents. The defendants will be required to perform and fund the project.
The order also requires Arnold and 300 West to submit to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) a comprehensive plan detailing steps to remediate on- and off-site soil and groundwater contamination. Arnold manufactures magnets and other metals that are used in products including motors, generators, batteries and sensors.
Madigan’s office previously obtained an immediate injunction requiring the company to determine the extent of the contamination and provide residents with safe bottled water until a permanent solution was agreed upon.
“This consent order will provide a permanent source of safe drinking water to homeowners,” said Madigan.
Under the order, Arnold and 300 West will also pay more than $214,000 in civil penalties and reimbursements to the state, as well as $2,400 for five years of water bill payments to each homeowner who elects to receive a hook-up to the city public water.
The IEPA referred this case to Madigan’s office after testing revealed elevated levels of cancer-causing agents, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and vinyl chloride, in groundwater near the site.
Water samples collected in 2013 revealed elevated levels of hazardous chemicals in several nearby private wells. The levels exceeded groundwater quality regulations in at least two of the drinking water wells. As a result, Madigan’s office filed a complaint against the defendants alleging substantial danger to the environment, public health and welfare, and water pollution.
Assistant Attorneys General Kathryn Pamenter and Stephen Sylvester handled the case for Madigan’s Environmental Bureau.
Source: http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov
