By Kayla Johnson and Mimi Herrick
PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – Chillicothe residents questioned their leaders at a Public Works meeting following the notification that the city’s water had not met the Illinois Class 1 Groundwater Quality Standards.
Shawn Sutherland, the Public Works Superintendent, explained that one well out of the city’s seven had tested for high levels of two “forever chemicals”: perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS). Per Illinois law, the city must notify residents of the elevated levels within five days of obtaining the information.
Results were in on Aug. 5, and the notification was sent out in residents’ water bills, each containing a TinyURL that would lead them to the required notification information.
“Nowhere in any reports that I received does it say that you guys can’t drink the water. So I don’t care what Chili Chat says or whatever, but please educate yourself and please get a hold of me or the city,” Sutherland said. “The city has nowhere said that you cannot drink the water. And filtration is recommended. Filtration, please read the verbiage. Please, if you want to filter your water, go ahead, that’s fine, that’s great. We’re not required to tell you to do that.”
While the way that the city notified residents met the legal requirements, residents voiced their concerns that for some of them, a link simply wouldn’t do because they don’t have reliable access to the internet.
“You could have made that letter and mailed it out. You mailed out the water bill. That’s what you’re expecting everybody to know it off of. You could have sent the letter at the same time you sent the water bill… You still put something in the mail at that particular time to notify the citizens, whether it’s your TinyURL link that you’re talking about that probably half the folks in this town couldn’t even see,” Jen Anderson, a Chillicothe resident, said.
Sutherland offered that residents contact him directly with concerns.
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