Cong.  Bobby Rush to hear testimony, concerns about tainted water supply from Crestwood Residents at Saturday Town Hall Meeting

CHICAGO ––Congressman Bobby L. Rush (IL-01) will listen to citizens from the Village of Crestwood who are concerned about being their exposed to poisonous drinking water for nearly two decades during a 4 p.m. town hall meeting on Saturday, April 25, at Moraine Valley Church, 6300 W. 127th Street in Palos Heights. A coalition of Crestwood parents, concerned citizens and cancer survivors were instrumental in arranging the meeting.

Earlier this week, Rep. Rush expressed outraged at learning more than 11,000 citizens in the Village of Crestwood drank poisoned tap water from a well operated by the village. According to recent reports, residents were exposed to perchloroethylene (PCE), a chemical linked to cancer, liver damage and neurological problems and linked to a local dry cleaner.

"I am incensed to learn through the media these taxpayers and their children have been exposed to toxic water mixed with water from Lake Michigan," Rush said after learning of the issue. "This was a deceitful act and someone must be held accountable"

In a letter to USEPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Rush demanded a full accounting of the condition of the water in Crestwood. He began representing the middle-class community in 2002. "As the duly elected federal representative of the citizens of Crestwood, I am appalled that this situation has not been brought to my attention by the responsible federal and local government agencies," he wrote. "Therefore I am requesting an informational meeting with you this week regarding the content and context of any federal involvement."

The congressman has not ruled out an official hearing on the matter or seeking additional federal intervention.