Judge rules Crestwood water cases must stand alone

A Cook County judge has ruled that about 200 Crestwood residents who blame contaminated well water for sicknesses can’t sue as a group.

The SouthtownStar reports a judge says the claims were too diverse to receive class certification. Two former water department officials in the southern Chicago suburb have been indicted on charges they piped in polluted water. They are scheduled to go to trial this year. Plaintiffs claim illnesses like kidney problems, tumors, cancers and immune system disorders.

Crestwood village attorney David Sosin called the judge’s decision “very important.”

A 2010 report from the Illinois Department of Public Health found that cancer rates were higher than average in Crestwood, though it didn’t make a definite link between the elevated rates and the tainted water.