News Releases - 2003

$1.3 Million Loan Approved For Radium Treatment In Water At Sugar Grove

Springfield, Ill. -- Illinois EPA Director Renee Cipriano today announced that a low interest loan in the amount of $1,352,534 has been approved for the village of Sugar Grove.

The $1,352,534 loan, issued under the Illinois EPA’s revolving loan program, will allow the community to drill a new well, and install necessary treatment equipment to remove naturally occurring radionuclides from the village’s drinking water supply.

Community water supplies with naturally occurring levels of radium that exceed federal standards published in December 2000 have a deadline of Dec. 8, 2003, to come into compliance with the federal standards. Long- term consumption of drinking water with excessive radium levels has been linked to health problems.

The Sugar Grove project will allow construction of a new well, construction of a cation exchange system for radium treatment, and other feed systems, controls, and piping needed to bring the water system into compliance with state and federal regulations.

“It is particularly satisfying to be able to offer critical financial assistance to a community, like Sugar Grove, where natural environmental causes have produced a situation that could threaten human health,” said IEPA Director Renee Cipriano.

The loan is being made from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water revolving loan program that utilizes federal and state funding to provide loans for eligible drinking water treatment projects at half the market interest rate. Interest paid on the 20 year loans is returned to the fund to support other low interest loans.

Sugar Grove also expects to obtain some funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to complete the project. Construction is expected to begin by July 1, 2003.