Crestwood Official Found Guilty Of Lying About Water Contamination

Now this is where lies get downright serious. Wait until you hear some of these details. The place is Crestwood, Illinois, by the way. If you live near there or know someone who does, this might be of real interest.

After being found guilty Monday of lying repeatedly to state regulators as head of Crestwood’s water department, Theresa Neubauer said she was at the “bottom of the food chain” when it came to a long-running scheme to use polluted well water in the village’s drinking supply

That is probably one of the few honest things she has said, given how this report all reads. I am sure she was a cog in a bigger, broken machine.

Neubauer told reporters that former longtime Mayor Chester Stranczek and another village official were responsible for using the tainted water to supplement the Lake Michigan water the village obtained from Chicago.

Neither Stranczek nor the other official were charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged roles in the scandal, in which the well water that contained vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical, was used for about 22 years until 2007.

22 Y E A R S? Well, I take it back. This is probably of interest to plenty of people who no longer live there and may not have for many years to know about all this. One last note from the story for some perspective and clarification on all this.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency determined in 1986 that the well was contaminated and ordered Crestwood to stop using it, but top village officials ignored the order and plotted for years to hide the continued use of the well, according to trial testimony.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has said the use of the well could have been a factor in elevated levels of cancer among Crestwood residents, but the agency couldn’t conclusively tie that to the water.

(Source)

Yeah... I'm sure they can't conclusively tie it to the water. If they COULD, there would be solid liability for people who died or are possibly dying now. That would get expensive. No liability here. Nope... None in sight, apparently. So what is this chemical, you may ask? Glad ya did! I went and looked it up so you wouldn't have to.

This is what shows up on the MSDS Chemical ID and Hazard sheet for Vinyl Chloride.

(Source: MSDS Sheet - Vinyl Chloride)

Interesting... Now this shows as a gas on that and the other MSDS sheets I could find. Then again, so is Hydrogen until 2 parts meet 1 part Oxygen, right? This is quite a thing to imagine the town deliberately lying about while allowing into the water supply of the general public there. Oh gee...and people wonder why we don't trust Government at any level? I say, here is the poster example.

I live very close to Crestwood and they get Lake Michigan water why were they drinking from a well. Was it outlying areas only our water is great.

reply to post by ed1320


The article explains in detail and I've pushed 'fair use' limit for how much I already posted of it. However, The Police Chief isn't just accused...but convicted now of lying to cover it up. So..I suppose it has actually been happening. I'm rather baffled myself as to how the reasoning can possibly justify the risks being taken with OTHER people's lives. I'm going to make a wild guess here that people handling and directly involved in this tended to buy bottled water for their personal drinking needs ...or lived outside the water district for Crestwood itself?

By the way, I went back myself to read this carefully, and she is identified in one spot as head of Crestwood's Water Dept and in another as being on Paid Leave as it's Police Chief. I'm assuming this is a town where people wear more than one hat?

The stats say a population just over 10,000 and the map shows it right in the middle of city area, and just off 294, for others not familiar with the area. Perhaps a very narrow and isolated issue for this specific water district? I'd sure hope so.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

So you're telling me that local governing officials actually... conspired... to contaminate the local water supply with a known toxin? But...but... nooooo! Say it ain't so, Wrabbit!

Now that I have that out of my system. I've wondered about our own water supply here in Southern Illinois more than once over the years. Weird things happen occasionally. Discoloration, murkiness, chemical odors, and so on. Who knows what the hell they're doing.

S&F.

reply to post by Klassified


I know... I'm shocked beyond words myself. Who would ever believe city or village officials would lie, right? (gasp). Whoda thunk they'd put something harmful in the water? (pushes Fluoride bottles out of sight with foot while saying that) ...Ho Hum... Nothing to see there...

Likewise, back to serious things.. lol.. I actually am a bit surprised by the toxic nature of this and ...really? The length of time. This was almost to the point of saying they deliberately knew and had to have been aware they were killing people. If not directly (and the MSDS doesn't say that, I admit) than absolutely on the installment plan.

Now I suppose the part of the article which saying no one meaningful has been charged doesn't come as a shocker. Is anyone actually guilty of anything really held accountable these days? Well...occasionally, I suppose. That usually means it goes even higher than we'd first thought though, doesn't it?

This has been an ongoing bunch of stupidity for a long while now. Most residents around here, those that pay attention to more than Glee or whatever the new thing is, have been aware of the buffoonery going on.

I live near 95th and Cicero in Oak Lawn, my brother lives near 123rd and Cicero in Alsip, and we grew up near 95th and Ridgeland in Oak Lawn since New Years 1984. The house we grew up in had a well and we only used it for watering the yard and garden and washing the car. Then the village came in and had us seal up our well. Must have been around 1991 or so. I had always assumed it was basically a move by the village to get revenue since there were so many homes built after WWII in the area with wells. The entire area here was farmland then. Same with Crestwood, Alsip, Palos and Worth. I think I'll give my dad a call and see what he says he was told back then when they had people seal up their wells.

It's good to see there's finally movoment of any kind on this issue. The little local paper has had stories on this every now and again for years now. And all this time nothing was being done about it. I can only recall this story being brought up on Chicago news programs once or twice in the last 5 years.

ETA: Also, Wrabbit, as far as they say, it is only isolated to a neighborhood near Crestwood's water towers. If I'm remembering correctly.