Smaller Cities View Mandates As New Crisis

The Association of Mini-Municipalities in Central Illinois met Sept. 11 in Rushville to discuss the problems of smaller cities and villages, particularly the mandates by federal and state government that are creating a crises with many small towns, according to group president Richard Godfrey of South Jacksonville.

"The siege of sewer problems for the past years, brought on by the Environmental Protection Agency, has brought on financial problems that could lead to bankruptcy due to grant money going to larger cities and no grant money left for the smaller communities," said Godfrey.

"We are now being faced with a clean drinking water mandate with 120 cities in violation of the required standard set by the EPA. One example of the requirement of this ruling is an EPA standard of not over five picocuaries of radium per liter of water. This figure is very debatable, since no definite study has been taken. Dr. Richard Toohey of the Argonne National Laboratory suggests that 20 picocuaries of radium per liter would be a much more prudent standard."

Godfrey said that Canada has set a standard of 20 picocuaries of radium per liter of water. To correct this violation would cost from $1 million to $40 million, depending on the severity of violation, according to Godfrey.

Members of the Mini-Municipalities agreed to send letters to state and federal representatives to give the water standards additional study before forcing the current standards on the water suppliers. •

Page 4 / Illinois Municipal Review / October 1987