US EPA Hearings Set On Mahomet Aquifer

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has scheduled two hearings in May on a proposal to declare a central Illinois sole source aquifer an important source of drinking water. 

But the EPA says the special status would give the EPA only limited additional authority to protect it from pollution. 

The hearings on the Mahomet Aquifer are May 13 in Champaign and May 14 in Morton. 

The EPA says declaring the aquifer a principal source of drinking water would allow it to review any project planned for land above the aquifer that receives federal funds.  Opponents of a toxic-waste landfill planned for Clinton in central Illinois are seeking the designation. 

The Clinton Landfill's operators say they would install a liner that would protect the aquifer from PCBs.