EPA declares Mahomet aquifer a primary drinking water source

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday added an extra layer of regulatory protection for a central Illinois aquifer, declaring it a primary source of drinking water for the region.

The EPA decision guarantees extra scrutiny of any project there that includes federal finances. The decision was heavily backed by local officials across central Illinois who saw the declaration would help stop a plan to store toxic PCBs at a landfill in Clinton, over the aquifer.

More than 750,000 people across central Illinois draw drinking water from the underground, sand-and-gravel formation.

"The Safe Drinking Water Act gives EPA authority to designate all or part of an aquifer as a 'sole source' if contamination of the aquifer would create a significant hazard to public health," the EPA said in announcing its decision.

Local officials and members of Congress from the region, both Republicans and Democrats, praised the decision to add scrutiny of projects planned for the land over the aquifer.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said the designation recognizes the aquifer as a "unique, precious resource," while U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis said he believes the EPA decision will help further "bipartisan efforts" to protect the aquifer. The Taylorville Republican's district includes much of the land over the aquifer.

Champaign Mayor Don Gerrard, whose city uses the aquifer water, said the added the layer of regulation is appreciated.

"It's going to be a little bit tougher for someone to put dollar signs ahead of the interests of" the region's water users.

Peoria-based Area Disposal Service Inc. has long planned to store PCBs in a landfill it owns in Clinton. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency last summer denied the application for a state permit for that project after learning that local approval of the landfill in 2002 didn't include an OK for PCBs

The company has appealed that decision.

Brian Meginnes, a Peoria-based attorney for Area Disposal, did not respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday's decision.

PCBs - or polychlorinated biphenyls - are chemical compounds once used in industrial and commercial products ranging from oil-based paints to fluorescent light ballasts. They were outlawed in the United States in 1979 because they cause cancer and other health problems. But they remain in the environment at industrial sites across the Midwest.