mobanmarketSKOKIE, IL — Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky appeared in Skokie Tuesday to present a ceremonial $2 million check to Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen to help pay for lead service line replacement.
“You can’t take this to the bank, mayor.” Schakowsky told Van Dusen.
“This is symbolic of our ability in the 9th Congressional District, and mine as the congresswoman,” she said, “to bring this amount of money, $2 million, to the village of Skokie, to be able to get rid of some of the lead service lines.”
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High levels of lead in water can lead to health effects, including brain and kidney damage, and Illinois has more lead service line than any other state. Estimates show as many as 11,000 of the state’s more than 17,600 service accounts will eventually need some kind of lead abatement efforts, according to Schakowsky’s office.
The money was been allocated by last year’s federal omnibus spending bill, which included more than $26 million in federal funding that the Evanston Democrat and longtime member of Congress secured for 15 projects across the district, according to her office.
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As Patch reported last year, the largest single community project funding allocation allocation was $7 million for a road improvement project at a Mount Prospect intersection.
“We are able to designate projects within our districts, just within the 9th Congressional District for me, where we are able to provide some resources,” Schakowsky said Tuesday at an event at Skokie Village Hall.
“I was able to get $2 million, which is unfortunately far less than they need to take care of all of Skokie, to be able to replace those lead service lines,” she said.
According to village staff, the total cost of the project to the village will be more than $80 million.
“At present, the Village of Skokie is developing a plan to equitably support these mandated lead service line replacements throughout the community that will be phased in over a multi-year period,” staff recently announced.
Partial lead service line replacements were banned last year by the Illinois Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act.
Separately, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $15 billion to replace lead service lines across the country.
“And hopefully some of that is going to come to the Village of Skokie as well,” she said.
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