Environmental Progress - Winter 2000

Investigation Into Well Contamination Continuing

Industrial solvent detected in private wells

In recent months, a metal fabrication company in Lisle has been the focus of attention from the media, the public and several state agencies, due to a 1991 chemical solvent spill.

In 1994, the Lockformer Company of Lisle entered Illinois EPA's voluntary cleanup program, seeking the agency's oversight of their investigation of the impact of a release to the soil and groundwater. According to their application, Lockformer discovered that spills of trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent, had apparently occurred during a 1991 delivery of the product to Lockformer. TCE was used by the facility to clean metals prior to the finishing process.

The public problems began when Lockformer representatives proposed to the village of Lisle that a groundwater ordinance be adopted. If passed by the village, the ordinance would have prevented any additional potable water wells from being installed in the vicinity of the Lockformer facility. Lockformer proposed the ordinance as part of an effort to obtain a "No Further Remediation" letter from the Illinois EPA.

Ban request alerted public

When information about the proposed ordinance was released to the public through the media, residents in the area became aware that TCE might have been contaminating their private water wells. One area resident then tested the water well on his property. Sample results showed traces of TCE in the residen's drinking water. Lockformer responded by voluntarily connecting this residence to a public water supply.

Other residents in the area subsequently contacted the Illinois EPA and requested that their water wells be tested. During this same time period, several potentially affected residents filed suit against Lockformer in federal court. Following these events, other residents in the same area contacted the Illinois EPA requesting that their wells be tested.

Tests showed contamination

In December 2000, the Illinois EPA sampled 48 nearby private wells; they found nine wells with TCE concentrations exceeding drinking water standards and 28 wells with some evidence of TCE. The Illinois Department of Public Health notified the residents of the test results. The Illinois EPA continued to sample wells in the village of Lisle and unincorporated DuPage County into early 2001. Lisle's public water supply was not affected since the village obtains its water from Lake Michigan.

Although Lockformer documented a 1991 release in its application to the Illinois EPA, there is no evidence of a report to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency of a 1991 spill. However, Lockformer still uses this as the reference date for awareness of a spill. Lockformer advised the agency in a 1994 report that its preliminary investigation showed that the release affected no private water wells, and that the contamination had not spread beyond their property line. To date, a complete investigation report has not been submitted to the Illinois EPA and no remedial action has been taken.

Around 1994, Lockformer and Allied Signal, the company responsible for the delivery and pumping of the TCE into Lockformer's tank, agreed on a settlement for damages. The settlement was to be used for remedial activities related to the TCE spill.

The Illinois EPA recently referred the Lockformer Company to the Illinois Attorney General's office for violations of the Environmental Protection Act. Lockformer then entered into an agreed interim order. They agreed, among other things, to perform an investigation to determine the extent of contamination, to arrange for immediate delivery of bottled water to all potentially affected residents and to submit and implement a plan for remediation of the soil and groundwater contamination which is attributable to it. Lockformer has not admitted that it is the source of the contamination.