Personal Injury Law

Illinois Attorney General sues Crestwood for lying over tainted water

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

The Chicago Tribune (6/10, Hawthorne) reports that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan ?filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday that accuses Crestwood officials of lying more than 120 times about their secret use of a [Chicago area] community well contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals."

Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed the first Crestwood case in Illinois.

The complaint "outlines a systematic coverup of Crestwood's routine use of its tainted well and provides more details about actions first publicly revealed by the Tribune in April." Crestwood officials avoided scrutiny for over twenty years by misleading the state to believe that residents were getting only Lake Michigan water.

In late 2007, when EPA inspectors tested the water for the first time since 1986, they found the well was contaminated with dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride, which is so toxic the U.S. EPA says there is no safe level of exposure. The well was finally shut down in Late 2007, after exposing citizens to its harmful contaminants for over two decades.

Moreover, records show Crestwood officials knew the well was contaminated at least as early as 1986. They also heard about the pollution in 1998, when village officials tested the well and found dichloroethylene in the water. Both times, Crestwood officials managed to cover their tracks. The continuous irresponsible and clandestine actions by Crestwood are infuriating to all.

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on June 11, 2009 (boomark / email).