February 07, 2025
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Peru receives $50,000; La Salle, Oglesby $40,000 to take inventory of lead in water lines

Statewide mandate for each city to take inventory by April 2024

By Olivia Doak and Tom Collins
In this Wednesday, March 9, 2016 photo, city officials display an example of the lead pipes in Galesburg, Ill. An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows that nearly 1,400 water systems serving millions of Americans have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once during the last three years. In Galesburg, Ill., lead levels have exceeded the federal standard in 22 out of 30 testing periods since 1992.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced grant funding awarded to help communities, including La Salle, Peru and Oglesby, fund a statewide mandate to take inventory of the amount of lead water lines in each city by April 2024. Once identified, all lead lines will need to be replaced. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Many Illinois Valley residents likely have lead-lined pipes in their homes or workplaces that pose health concerns. Soon, residents can look forward to having these lead lines replaced with safer alternatives.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced grant funding awarded to help communities, including La Salle, Peru and Oglesby, fund a statewide mandate to take inventory of the amount of lead water lines in each city by April 2024. Once identified, all lead lines will need to be replaced.

“They (IEPA) are concerned about lead seeping into the water and causing some health problems for people,” said La Salle Economic Development Director Curt Bedei, later adding, “We want to make sure that citizens are safe from any health concerns regarding the lead.”

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski said there are about 4,000 houses in Peru, and it’s unknown how many have lead lines that need to be replaced.

“This is a massive, years-long project,” Kolowski said. “We found out about this (requirement) two years ago and our jaws dropped.”

The requirement to take inventory of and replace all lead lines is a statewide mandate for all cities in Illinois. To help with the costs, the IEPA was able to provide $2 million distributed to 48 communities that applied for the Lead Service Line Inventory grants.

“This funding will provide many communities with the necessary funding to develop a complete inventory identifying the types of water lines that exist in their drinking water supplies,” said IEPA Director John J. Kim in a press release.

Peru was awarded $50,000 in IEPA grant money for the project and La Salle $40,000 to help with costs of doing inventory.

Kolowski said while the cost and scale of the project is massive, he’s excited about the grant money and the benefit it will have for the citizens.

“It’s great, you always want safe drinking water for your citizens,” Kolowski said.

Oglesby also was awarded an EPA grant.

“The grant is to identify where there might be lead pipes,” said Oglesby Mayor Dom Rivara.

La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove said the grant money benefits residents because the city doesn’t have to increase funds to pay for the project.

“It’s definitely going to benefit the city because that’s less money we have to put towards just finding out the issue,” Grove said. “So, anytime we get a little extra grant money, it’s really appreciated and should affect our residents in a positive way so we don’t have to increase funds to help pay for that part of it.”

The IEPA said in a press release that another funding opportunity will be announced in the coming weeks. Additional information on the program is available on the Illinois EPA website at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/drinking-water/public-water-users/Pages/LSLI-Grant-Opportunity.aspx.