Groundwater contaminants topic of U.S. EPA meeting

Steps to rid groundwater of contaminants left behind by glass plants will be talked about in Ottawa.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding a public meeting Wednesday at 7pm inside the Etna Road Governmental Complex to outline their plan of reducing arsenic levels in underground water supplies in Ottawa. The contaminated sites are the old Libby-Owens-Ford glass plant on the north side of the Illinois River and the former silica sand quarries and wastewater disposal area on the south side of the rive. The entire contaminated site is 350 acres.
EPA officials say the groundwater in the testing area is 35 times higher than the safety standard for arsenic, putting it at “maximum contaminant level”. However Naplate’s drinking water comes from another area so its contaminant free and five homeowners who have wells in the area are living off bottled water.
The cost of cleaning up the site is $3 million.

Students like new, bigger middle school

School cool? You don’t often hear students saying that, but most students don’t get to attend classes in a brand new building.
Plenty of students took the opportunity Tuesday to scope out the Parkside Middle School following a grand opening ceremony.
A lot of them really like the new, bigger gym.
The building cost about $17 million and was built by Vissering Construction. With the opening of this school, the district has closed Roosevelt School and will use Washington School for younger students.
Classes in Peru begin next Wednesday.