A sign above a sink in a bathroom warns people to avoid using the water at First Baptist Church in University Park. Hand sanitizer is provided instead.
People lack trust that a “do not consume” order issued more than three years ago means it’s OK for water poisoned with lead to make contact with skin.
“They say it’s safe to wash your hands,” said the Rev. Reginald W. Williams Jr., pastor. “Common sense says if I can’t put it in my body I shouldn’t put it on my body.”
Lead contaminated water has affected more than 7,000 residents in about 1,500 University Park homes and businesses. Aqua Illinois, a private utility that supplies the town’s water, issued the “do not consume” order June 19, 2019. The company says its “do not consume” guidance stopped that summer.
But residents still trek to a public works site where water in 5 gallon containers weighing more than 40 pounds each is distributed three times per week. People use it for drinking, cooking, bathing and other needs.
“We still can’t baptize,” Williams said.
About 30 residents gathered Monday night at the church for a town hall about their community’s water crisis. The situation is similar to one that affected Flint, Michigan, but has drawn a fraction of the attention. Community leaders and residents feel forgotten and overlooked.
“This is University Park, where most of the residents are African American,” Williams said. “If this was Highland Park, this wouldn’t happen.”
Aqua Illinois disputes comparisons to Flint, saying the lead contamination situation could not have been predicted.
The town mobilized in the months immediately after the “do not consume” order was issued. Residents pitched in to deliver water to senior citizens, people with disabilities and others who needed help.
Then the pandemic hit and overshadowed University Park’s water crisis.
“For 1,256 days the people of University Park have been forced to bathe, cook and launder with water poisoned with lead,” Williams said. “Add to this the complications stemming from COVID-19 and you will admit that people in University Park have had to bear the burden of a weight not of their own doing.”
Exposure to toxic lead can cause brain damage and other serious health problems, especially for children.
“There is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Parents are anxious to resolve the crisis, Williams said.
“It’s been 1,256 days of anger and frustration,” he said.
The Illinois attorney general’s office and Will County state’s attorney’s office sued Aqua Illinois in 2019 on behalf of University Park residents. The lawsuit remains active and is in discovery, University Park Mayor Joseph Roudez told residents.
Aqua switched its water source to the Kankakee River and began adding a blended phosphate mix to the public water system to improve taste, according to the lawsuit. The change, the lawsuit alleges, is believed to have caused a chemical reaction that removed a protective layer in residential plumbing.
That allowed lead to leach into water in homes and businesses, the lawsuit alleges. In older communities, lead was used to connect private water lines to public or communal mains.
“This is not a new problem,” Dr. Terry Mason, former chief operating officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, told town hall attendees via live video. “There is no reason whatsoever in America for this situation to go on for so long. This is ridiculous.”
Aqua Illinois is bound by a judge’s order in the lawsuit, Roudez told residents. The order affects how often and in what quantities the company is required to distribute water, he said.
“This court case will probably go on another year or so at least,” Roudez said.
Residents at the town hall expressed frustration over receiving bills from Aqua despite prior assurances from a company official that charges would be suspended for the duration of the crisis.
“We’re paying sewer bills, but I feel like we’re paying for water,” resident Gina Williams said.
People said they were frustrated that the crisis has gone on for so long with no apparent progress.
“I think it’s disheartening for the residents to hear the same things over and over again,” resident C. Kim Bibb said.
Testing of water samples has shown Aqua is complying with regulations affecting University Park, a company spokesperson said Tuesday in response to an inquiry.
“Aqua Illinois’ commitment to our customers remains unwavering, and thanks to the ongoing collaboration with the community, coordination with regulators and steadfast commitment from our team, we announced this summer that the community’s overall water quality met regulatory benchmarks for a full year,” Kim Morreale said in a statement.
That doesn’t change the fact that more than 7,000 people in 1,500 homes remain affected by the crisis, residents said.
When Monday’s town hall ended, organizers asked people to sign letters that will be sent to state lawmakers. The letters ask the state to fund infrastructure improvements that would help resolve the crisis.
“The environmental injustice that myself and others in my beloved University Park community have suffered must be acknowledged and this wrong must finally be made right,” according to the letter.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.
