Saturday, July 19, 2014
Serving Bureau County Since 1847
A dirty analysis in DePue
DePue residents hear results of soil samplings By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
DEPUE — DePue’s Citizens Advisory Group (CAG) meeting on Wednesday attracted several community members — all anxious to hear results of soil samples taken from various yards throughout the village in December.
The samples determined the level of heavy metal concentrations that could pose as a human health risk. Charlene Falco, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) project manager, explained the pilot study was conducted in backyards, front yards, side yards, dip zones, down spouts and gardens.
The three metals that became a focal point in the testing were arsenic, lead and cadmium. “These were the ones that exceeded screening criteria,” Falco said. “These are the ones we are going to be monitoring during the clean-up phase.” The IEPA screened each metal at a different crite-
ria number. Samples that were charted higher than the criteria were deemed a threat and cause for remediation. Levels that met the criteria or sat below were deemed safe to human health. The IEPA screened arsenic at 11.6 parts per million (PPM); lead at 400 PPM and cadmium at 70 PPM. While the majority of all 1,300 samples were chart-
ed below the criteria, there were samples that came back higher. The current sample results are still considered a draft, as the IEPA is still finalizing the study and figuring out a few inconsistencies found in the results. Falco said once the results are finalized, letters will be sent to homeowners who had their property tested, showing their individual results.
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DePue Group disagrees with arsenic numbers The samples have been completed, and the IEPA has charted the data based on the samples’ criteria numbers. But the DePue Group — Exxon Mobile and CBS Corporation— do not agree with the screening criteria the IEPA is using for arsenic.
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Hall reviews ‘14 budget By Becky Kramer news@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY – The Hall High School Fiscal Year 2014 budget, which ended on June 30, was under review by the Hall High School Board Wednesday evening. The budget shows the district lost $350,354 in revenue last year alone. The main loss was in general state aid which totaled a loss of $303,187. Because of the board tightening its belt, the budget only shows a loss of $130,000. “The bottom line for our budget is that we have a revenue problem, not an expenditure problem,” Hall Superintendent Mike Struna said. “We have made cuts to expenses each year during the past five years in order to control expenses. Although we are operating with expenses lower than what we did in FY ‘10, the cuts we have made to expenses have not kept up with the revenue reductions from the state.” General state aid has been prorated during the past three years (89 percent, 92 percent and 95 percent), and it will be prorated again this year at 89 percent. “The local taxpayers have taken on a disproportionate burden of funding public education due to the four-year decrease in state funding,” Struna added. “If the state would fund public education at the rate that is in the statute, Hall High School would not have deficit budget issues.”
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BCR photo/Lyle Ganther
Book buffs’ summer fun Rob Bell of the Rockford area, who describes himself as a book buff, looks over the books at the Friends of Princeton Public Library’s July book sale held on Thursday and Friday. This event gives avid readers an opportunity to browse and pick up summer reading material. The entire sale room was open for this event. All books are donated by residents of Princeton and surrounding communities.
What will happen to your post office? USPS meetings are ongoing By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
Post office meetings are now complete for three of the seven Bureau County towns which could see changes to their post office services. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) sent letters to residents of Buda, Bureau,
Cherry, DePue, Seatonville, Sheffield and Wyanet to notify residents of upcoming public meetings on proposed changes to their post offices as part of the U.S. Postal Service’s POST Plan. Residents also received surveys from the postal service explaining the options before them, which included realignment/ reduction of open service hours; delivery service; contract with a
community business to handle some postal service; or close the community post office and have those customers go to a neighboring post office. The communities of Bureau, Seatonville and DePue have completed their meetings. On Thursday, USPS Corporate Communications spokesperson Beverly Howard said post office hours are being reduced from eight hours. For those post offices with modified retail hours,
operating hours will range from two to six hours. The decision regarding the status of the individual post office will be posted inside the post office one week after the community meeting, Howard said. If there are retail hour changes, those changes will be made approximately 30 days after the information is posted in the post office. The number of hours of
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Year 168 No. 86 One Section - 20 Pages
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