ROSSVILLE — The Village of Rossville conducted a public hearing Monday night to discuss entering into a loan agreement with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency through the Public Water Supply Loan Program to construct a new water treatment plant.

The plant would treat high levels of arsenic in Rossville’s drinking water along with high iron levels and other contaminants.

“Unless new information is provided through public comment to cause reconsideration, the IEPA will approve the project plan at the close of the public comment period,” Mayor Terry Prillaman said.

The maximum level of arsenic in the drinking water is 10 micrograms per liter, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Rossville’s arsenic levels in the last four quarters were 18 micrograms per liter.

“The current facility is not equipped to remove the arsenic,” Prillaman said.

Rossville is noncompliant due to the high levels of arsenic, and a violation notice for exceeding the arsenic levels was issued by the IEPA. Iron levels also exceeded the IEPA levels of 1 microgram per liter.

The village was faced with two options. One was to continue using the existing wells and construct a new water treatment plant at a cost of $739,790.

The other option entailed abandoning the wells, constructing a water main connecting to Hoopeston’s water distribution system at a cost $788,036, and begin purchasing water from Hoopeston, which would cost about $69,000 annually.

Rossville’s choice of the first option not only saved them money, but loan repayments would be lower, and it should offset any operation and maintenance cost.

Trustee Dick Queen asked, “Can our guys maintain it (water treatment plant)?”

According to Prillaman, Rossville does not have a man qualified to maintain the plant.

“We need to have someone get an Illinois Class B license to maintain the plant,” Prillaman said.

The new facility would be constructed at the site where the wells and water storage tank are now located.

The existing wells would remain while the well pumps would be replaced with new 300-gallon-per-minute pumps. The pumps presently pump 325 gpm in well 4 and 200 gpm in well 4A.

A treatment technology, known as oxidation/filtration with co-precipitation, would be used to oxidize arsenic and iron into arsenate and iron hydroxide, which would then be filtered out of the water using green sand. Both levels of arsenic and iron would be reduced considerably, according to Prillaman.

The project also would include the installation of a permanent, standby generator for emergency power and new chlorination and fluoridation equipment.

The village, according to Prillaman, would finance $389,790 of the project cost through the Public Water Supply Loan Program, with repayment over 20 years.

The balance of $350,000 would be paid with Community Development Assistance Program grant funds obtained through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development Opportunity.

TO COMMENT

A 15-day comment period follows the Rossville public hearing. Anyone interested in making comments can send them to: Gary Bingenheimer, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Infrastructure Financial Assistance Section, Bureau of Water, 1021 N. Grand Ave. East, P.O. Box 18276, Springfield, IL 62794-9276.