EPA extends deadline for Lake Zurich to fix drainage problem

Lake Zurich has until Sept. 30 to correct the problem of silt flowing from the village's Mionske Pond drainage basin and discharging into its lake.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Phillippa Cannon said Wednesday the April 30 deadline was extended because the solution was far more complicated than initially anticipated.

The village board Monday is expected to approve hiring a consultant to design a bypass storm sewer to redirect 90 percent of water flowing into Mionske Pond.

Richard Sustich, president of the Lake Property Owners Association, said residents are relieved an end is near on the silt issue.

"There's clearly an effort on the village's part to understand the bigger picture," he said. "The real problem here is decades of unregulated development in the watershed. And that the solution, obviously, is a bigger infrastructure correction than we had anticipated."

The U.S. EPA cited the village in September 2007. It determined silt runoff from the Illinois Department of Transportation's Route 22 bypass construction site and an on-site detention basin over several months starting in March 2006, exacerbated an existing sediment problem in Mionske Pond.

Currently, water flows from the pond to the storm sewer system and into the lake.

The bypass sewer, which could cost up to $300,000, should be installed by Sept. 30, Lake Zurich public works Director Dave Heyden said.

Village Administrator Bob Vitas said the bypass sewer is only part of the solution. He added the village will undertake a watershed study.

"Dealing with the broader issue is the drainage basin itself, and what gets released into it, and ensuring there aren't any contaminants or sedimentation in the future," he said. "We want to be certain of what the current conditions are so that any improvements that need to be made will be made at the time of any new construction."

That includes new drainage guidelines for future downtown redevelopment, he said.

The EPA is reviewing Lake Zurich's plan and hasn't yet signed off on it.

"It's taken them longer to come in with a final solution than we initially expected," said Bill Jones, wet weather program manager for EPA's water division. "We are trying to express it through because it's an important issue to resolve for the village."