"Toxic Chemicals in Water Wells Have Grundy County Residents on Edge"

"Toxic chemicals have crept into the drinking water in a corner of rural Grundy County [Illinois], stoking fears and raising suspicions about who is to blame.

Tests by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on at least five private wells in a neighborhood that abuts a large landfill near Morris, an hour's drive from Chicago, have shown dangerously high levels of arsenic, selenium, lead, thallium, antimony and other potentially harmful chemicals.

At one home, the level of arsenic is 11 times higher than what's considered safe to drink. At another home, the level is 22 times higher.

Health problems also abound in the unincorporated neighborhood along Gun Club Road. Several residents take thyroid medicine. Others have fought -- and lost -- bouts with cancer.

Despite these findings, the state EPA has not called for an investigation to discover the cause of this contamination. Neither has the Grundy County Health Department."

Joel Hood reports for the Chicago Tribune December 28, 2009.