By Howard Packowitz

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY – A 2016 natural gas leak that contaminated drinking water from the Mahomet Aquifer was the motivation for a new law signed by the governor to prevent future failures.

The aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for about 500,000 Central Illinois residents.

Two years ago, natural gas started leaking into the aquifer from a Peoples Gas storage field in Champaign County. The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet, said the utility did not report what happened to local authorities, and they kept nearby homeowners in the dark.

The bill requires immediate notification and mandates the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to perform annual storage field inspections.

“It sounds crazy that wasn’t the rule before, but it wasn’t,” said Rose.

“For this to have happened, you had a significant maintenance failure, in fact multiple maintenance failures because the casing that ultimately is believed to have been the cause of this had to fail multiple places for this to have happened,” Rose said.

“Sorry Peoples Gas. You didn’t do the job. You weren’t paying attention. You were asleep at the switch. Now, the state’s going to come in and look over your shoulder and make sure this thing is being done correctly,” Rose also said.

Gov. Bruce Rauner said the state is not done working to protect the water supply.

“This is going to be an ongoing process. We’re going to need other restrictions, other requirements because as we grow and as we develop, we’ve got to make sure the water stays clean and pure,” said Rauner.

Back in January, the governor appointed an aquifer task force. Among its members is Normal Mayor Chris Koos and Heyworth Mayor Todd Zalucha.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].