Taking a proactive approach to preserving the environment, State Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Peru) is sponsoring legislation that would require operators of clean-fill landfills to conduct a water-well test twice a year.
“Making sure toxins or other bad chemicals don’t seep into our farmland, ecosystem, or water supply is critical,” Rezin said. “While our landfill operators do a very good job making sure that doesn’t happen, this piece of legislation adds one more layer of protection for protecting families and communities, especially those with private wells.”
Rezin’s Senate Bill 1840 only affects counties with a population between 100,000 and 150,000 residents, which includes LaSalle County. Any owner or operator of a solid waste disposal site, clean construction or demolition debris fill operation, waste transfer station, recycling center, or other similar landfill site, will be required to conduct and pay for water-well testing for private well owners twice a year within a five-mile radius around the site.
“If a family’s or community’s drinking water becomes contaminated, then we will have a serious public safety event on our hands,” Rezin said. “We want to avoid that at all cost. This is small price to pay to avoid a potentially dangerous and deadly situation. Farmers want toxin free fields, wildlife should have a chemical-free ecosystem, and people want clean drinking water. This legislation helps keep it that way.”