Will County judge to decide if University Park can intervene in Aqua lawsuit
Will County Judge John Anderson is considering whether to allow University Park to intervene in a 2019 lawsuit state officials filed against its water provider, Aqua Illinois.
Anderson, who disclosed his home water supplier is Aqua, said he’s wondered since the lawsuit was filed in 2019 why University Park officials hadn’t intervened in the case. Aqua Illinois, the Illinois attorney general’s office and Will County state’s attorney reached an agreement in October.
“You’re just a little late to the party,” Anderson said. “That’s my concern, that it’s really untimely.”
When the consent order was filed, attorney Burt Odelson said, village officials didn’t think it went far enough. But Odelson said, up until the consent order was filed, village officials felt the state’s attorney’s office represented the residents of University Park well.
“The local government, we feel, have to step in and do their part,” Odelson said. “We’re close, but we need to get over the goal line.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow filed the 2019 lawsuit accusing Aqua of failing to provide safe drinking water, failing to comply with monitoring and sampling requirements, violating construction and operating permit requirements and creating a public nuisance.
Aqua began using the Kankakee River as its water source to and adding a blended phosphate mix to the public water system to improve taste, according to the lawsuit. The change, the lawsuit alleges, is believed to have caused a chemical reaction that removed a protective layer in residential plumbing.
Raoul and Glasgow asked a judge to approve the consent order in October after finding Aqua met the state lead action level over several six-month compliance sampling periods and developed an effective corrosion control treatment for the public water system.
Odelson said the village hired him in May, and the following month he got a call from the state’s attorney’s office that officials wanted the mayor to testify. But when the consent order was filed in October, the village wanted to intervene because it did not go far enough, he said.
“When should we have gotten involved? Earlier,” Odelson said. “Our interest, I feel, were adequately represented up to a point.”
The order establishes a technical assistance program in which residents’ tap water will be tested for lead. If the result of the water is above 15 ppb for lead, the resident will be eligible to receive a free filter device and an inspection of the visible plumbing.
The technical assistance program will continue for one year from the entry of the consent order. Aqua will send out information to residents about how to register, according to the order.
Under the program, Aqua will fund an escrow account with up to $300,000 for the remediation of lead solder and any fixtures containing fixtures found in kitchen faucets. Aqua will also pay an additional $200,000 in civil penalties.
In an amended motion to intervene, filed in November, the village requested the funding in the technical assistance program to increase to $2.4 million and to continue the program for two years.
Pointing to the members in the courtroom, including Mayor Joseph Roudez, Village Manager Elizabeth Scott and the majority of the Village Board, Odelson said they believe more can be done for the residents.
“It is a very difficult situation we have right now in University Park,” Odelson said. “We think we need more for the people in University Park.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Pamenter said state and county attorneys and Aqua “have worked tirelessly on this case.” The attorney general opposes the motion to intervene, she said.
The consent order would have provisions to ensure residents are still taken care of, Pamenter said, such as the technical assistance program. With the approval of the consent order, it won’t result in “abandonment of this community,” she said.
“We do not, in anyway, oppose the village’s petition lightly,” Pamenter said.
Daniel Deeb, an attorney for Aqua, agreed. He said the technical assistance program will continue for as long as needed for those who apply in the program.
“Once you’re in, you’re in,” Deeb said.
Anderson said he will take some time to review the motions.
“You guys gave me 2 feet of paper. It’s a small exaggeration,” Anderson said.
Trustee Jewell Thompson, who attended the hearing, said she felt optimistic.
While the village filed its motion to intervene many years into the case, water is a necessity and the village’s former advocate, Nina Fain, wasn’t effective, she said. In August, four trustees held a special meeting and fired Fain, who was special counsel for the village in the lawsuit.
“We know we’re late, but we’re crying out for leniency,” Thompson said.
Trustee Gina Williams said since 2019 Aqua has issued over 20 boil orders for University Park that weren’t weather related. Even after the most recent boil order expired, Williams said she will still continue to boil the water.
“I’m not going to take a chance just because they said it’s over with,” Williams said.
Boil order
Aqua issued a boil order Sunday for every community it serves, including University Park, because of rapid thaw and heavy rains last week affecting the Kankakee River. The boil order was lifted Tuesday night, Debb said, and was weather related.
Jonathan Flowers, a senior engineer for Robinson Engineering and consultant for the village, said what led to the boil order could result in lead in the water.
River water chemistry can change, which makes it difficult to be treated in a plant, Flowers said. When the water isn’t properly treated, it can result in lead entering the water from solder pieces, he said.
“Whatever is in the river, is getting into the plant. If the river has different chemistry, then the plant might not be treating the water correctly,” Flowers said.
Flowers said this case is unique because the lead pieces in the water system are in the solder. While there is a national push to replace lead pipes, there’s less talk about lead solder pieces, he said.
“This is a unique situation to University Park because of the type of solder that they have and the Kankakee River water, how variable it is, it makes the solder more prone to release lead into the system,” Flowers said.
