Champaign, Ill (WAND) – After a 2016 natural gas leak from a Peoples Gas storage facility into the Mahomet Aquifer the Eisenmann family noticed a problem with their tap water. A flame would cause their drinking water to ignite.
Now in mid-August of 2018 the Eisenmann’s water is still undrinkable. Bottled water is being given to them with no end in sight.
On Thursday, Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation sponsored by State Senator Chapin Rose, (R) Mahomet, which puts tighter restrictions on Peoples Gas and other utilities. The Department of Natural Resources must now make regular inspections of gas storage facilities. Utilities will need to notify local authorities and residents of problems in a timely manner.
“They’ve been going through hell for the last year and a half to fight to get their home life back,” Rose told WAND News at the University of Illinois. “These poor folks didn’t know what happened for months. Months they were living with these issues in their water.”
A Mahomet Aquifer task force is also working to craft additional legislation to protect the aquifer which is a major drinking water supply in central Illinois.
