University Park water quality testing ruling raises concerns

Some University Park trustees expressed concern Tuesday about the court order requiring Aqua Illinois to offer free, monthly water testing to residents, stating the company created the problem with the village’s drinking water.

Village attorney Nina Fain, updating the Village Board on Tuesday on legal matters involving the water supplier, said residents should know they have the option to have their water tested, as ordered by the court.

Any resident or business on the public water system can request Aqua to complete a free test of the tap water, as often as once a month, Fain said. The testing will continue until either the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or the court order otherwise, she said.

Trustee Jewell Thompson, elected in April, said it didn’t seem right for Aqua to conduct the testing.

“I don’t think you can ask the person who created the problem to solve the problem necessarily,” Thompson said. “Who’s advocating for us?”

Fain said the attorney general’s office has advocated for the village.

Residents can call 877-9872782 to schedule water testing, she said, and should email the attorney general’s office at upwater@ilag.gov if testing isn’t occurring or if they have questions.

Residents have been able to have their water tested since 2019, according to a statement from Aqua Illinois.

Aqua company representatives didn’t return phone calls Wednesday, but in an email statement spokesperson Kim Morreale said residents “can remain reassured that these samples will be tested and analyzed by a third-party certified lab.”

IEPA officials cited Aqua Illinois in July 2019 for a series of alleged violations related to ongoing lead water contamination in University Park that persisted more than a month after they were detected.

IEPA’s violation notice cites Aqua for deficiencies in its permitting and sampling processes; for failing to properly categorize lead and copper sampling sites; and for failing to maintain a safe public water supply.

In response, company officials at the time issued a statement saying they were working with IEPA to resolve the issue. The company suspended four members of its management and professional team in response to the IEPA’s findings.

But company officials acknowledged in the statement that in the process of changing water sources from well water to the Kankakee River in 2018, it installed a water main and changed treatment locations without getting an IEPA permit in a timely manner.

“Although we continue working to gather the necessary information to gain a more comprehensive understanding of what took place, it is important to note we don’t believe the issues associated with these notices of violations contributed to or worsened the lead contamination in University Park,” company officials said in a 2018 statement.

In August 2019 the Illinois attorney general and Will County state’s attorney jointly filed a lawsuit against Aqua Illinois for allegedly not providing safe drinking water to University Park.

The lawsuit accuses Aqua of failing to comply with monitoring and sampling requirements, violating construction and operating-permit requirements, and creating a public nuisance.

The lawsuit sought a preliminary injunction ordering Aqua to immediately take corrective action to abate its alleged violations and requested monetary penalties of $50,000 for every violation and another $10,000 for each day of each violation.

The case is moving forward, Fain said, and village administrators, including Mayor Joseph Roudez, have been called to testify when the case goes to trial.

The case’s discovery period took nearly two years, which Roudez called a “stalemate.”

“For two years there was no conversation,” he said. “It was all in the courts in discovery.”

As the case continues, Roudez said he’d like to see an endowment fund created to help residents financially as issues may arise as a result of the lead in water, including future illnesses.

Ideally, Roudez said the village could buy the water system for the price it was sold to Aqua, but the company likely wouldn’t agree to that deal.

Instead of giving residents water, which comes in heavy jugs that are difficult for older residents to carry, Roudez said Aqua should have invested in the community to correct its error.

Aqua “is a predatory company” that would not treat a community of white residents as it has treated the Black residents of University Park, Roudez said.

“We just have to find a way to get away from Aqua,” Roudez said. “Aqua gives less than a hoot about the village of University Park ... they are looking to disenfranchise this community.”

As the case moves through the court process, Fain said village officials and residents can attend court hearings, contact the attorney general’s office to share their experiences with the water and talk with residents and officials in other communities, like Hanover Park, who also had problems with Aqua.

“These are proactive steps that don’t cost anything that the community and the board can do,” Fain said.