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 The Safe Drinking Water Act gives EPA authority to designate all
or part of an aquifer as a "sole source" if contamination of the
aquifer would create a significant hazard to public health and there
are no physically available or economically feasible alternative
sources of drinking water to serve the population that relies on the
aquifer. The designation authorizes EPA review of projects that
receive Federal financial assistance to assess potential for
contamination of the aquifer system that would create a significant
hazard to public health.
 The Mahomet Aquifer system is an underground layer of water-bearing
sand and gravel that fills a wide bedrock valley in an area that
includes 14 east-central Illinois counties. The aquifer system
provides about 58 million gallons of drinking water each day for 120
public water systems and thousands of rural wells that serve about a
half million people in Illinois.
EPA’s public comment period on the designation began on March 13,
2014, and closed on June 12, 2014. EPA held public hearings on May
13 in Champaign and on May 14 in Morton. Following a review of
public comments, EPA prepared a Responsiveness Summary which
addresses comments and answers questions. The decision goes into
effect when it is published in the Federal Register.
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The Responsiveness Summary and other relevant documents will
be available to the public at EPA’s regional office, 77 W.
Jackson Blvd., Chicago; Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green
St., Champaign; Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. Olive St.,
Bloomington; Pekin Public Library, 301 S. Fourth St., Pekin;
Havana Public Library, 201 W. Adams St., Havana; and Watseka
Public Library, 201 S. 4th St., Watseka.
For further information, go to
www.epa.gov/region5/water/gwdw/mahomet
[Written by Ann Rowan, IEPA,
submitted by Terry Storer, Logan County Emergency Management Agency]
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