*>EPA Approval Proposed for Mahomet United States 11 1 Agency maiPro'ectior gQ|e source Aquifer Designation Mahomet Aquifer System Central Illinois March 2014 Public hearings, public comment period U.S. EPA will hold two public hearings about the Mahomet Sole Source Aquifer Petition: Tuesday, May 13 Meeting: 6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Hearing: 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Hilton Garden Inn 1501 S.Neil St. Champaign Wednesday, May 14 Meeting: 6:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m. Hearing: 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Morton Park District's Freedom Hall 349 W. Birchwood Morton You may make oral statements or submit written comments at the hearing, or submit written comments - postmarked by Thursday, June 12 - to: William Spaulding U.S. EPA Region 5 (WG-15J) 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604 spaulding.william@epa.gov A copy of the Mahomet Sole Source Aquifer Petition is available at U.S. EPA's Chicago regional office (see above). Send Mr. Spaulding an email to schedule an appointment at the Chicago office. Or visit: www.epa.gov/r5water/gwdw/maho met/index.htm The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to designate a portion of the Mahomet Aquifer system in east-central Illinois as a sole source aquifer. The Safe Drinking Water Act gives the Agency authority to designate an aquifer as a sole or principal source of drinking water for a specified area. That designation allows EPA to review all federally funded projects in the area to ensure they will not contaminate the aquifer. EPA is asking for your comments on its proposal to make the designation. The Agency will hold two formal public hearings in May (see box, left). The public comment period will run from March 13 until June 12. The Mahomet Aquifer system is an underground layer of water-bearing sand and gravel that fills a wide bedrock valley in all or parts of 14 east- central Illinois counties. The aquifer system is the source of approximately 53 million gallons of water every year for 120 public water systems and thousands of rural wells that serve about a half million people. More than half of the population in east-central Illinois relies on the Mahomet Aquifer system as a source of drinking water. You may see documents related to the petition at: • Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green St., Champaign. • Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. Olive St., Bloomington. • Pekin Public Library, 301 S. Fourth St., Pekin. • Havana Public Library, 201 W. Adams St., Havana. • Watseka Public Library, 201 S. 4th St., Watseka. • U.S. EPA's Region 5 office (see box, left). ------- Proposed Mahomet SSA Boundaries |C^S^/oodfor Decatur ristrm Proposed Mahomet SSA Project Review Area A Upstream Watershed Areas Proposed Mahomet SSA N Sangamon River near Fisher 3 Lake/River/Stream Tributary to Middle Fork Vermilion River [^] county Boundary „ 6 10 20 Sugar Creek Municipality Mlles ------- ------- |