The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added an extra layer of regulatory protection for a central Illinois aquifer by declaring it a primary source of drinking water.
The EPA on Wednesday said the Mahomet aquifer is primary water source for more than 750,000 people in central Illinois. That guarantees extra scrutiny of any project there that includes federal finances.
Local leaders in towns that use the aquifer pushed for the designation to try to block plans to store toxic PCBs in a landfill over the aquifer in Clinton. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency blocked those plans last summer based on a problems with local approvals of the project.
