In response to calls from concerned residents, Lisle issued a statement Thursday acknowledging recent media reports about contaminated private wells and offered reassurances on the safety of its municipal water system. Village officials said they were referring calls to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency Wednesday released the results of tests it conducted in December on private wells south of the Lockformer Co. plant at 711 Ogden Ave. The plant is the site of a decades-old spill of the solvent trichloroethene, or TCE. The chemical was found in the water of 34 of 48 homes tested by the agency, with amounts in nine homes exceeding levels set by the federal government.
The homes are between Front Street and Gamble Drive, and between Center Avenue and Westview Lane.
“The village’s water supply for its public water system comes from Lake Michigan and is transported through lines owned and operated by the Village of Lisle and the DuPage Water Commission,” the village said. “The supply is tested periodically and the latest test results confirm that the village meets or exceeds all water quality standards set by the [state and federal government].
“The alleged presence of TCE in private wells,” the village said, “as set forth in newspaper articles relates only to the testing of private wells that the [state EPA] conducted … and not the Village of Lisle’s public water supply system.”
The village is directing questions about the state EPA’s testing procedures and results to Stan Black, a community-relations coordinator with the agency. Black said he had received more than 12 calls Thursday, most from homeowners located away from the spill.
“I’ve told them they shouldn’t worry about the spill because its path makes it physically impossible to be in their wells,” he said.
Black can be reached at 217-785-1427.
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