As Forest Park joins the nationwide effort to remove toxic lead from drinking water, the village is planning its second phase of transitioning lead pipes to copper ones. 

At the Jan.13 village council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved two agenda items involving phase two of the lead service line replacement project. The council green lighted the advertisement of bids for the second phase, plus authorized the village to borrow funds from the Public Water Supply Loan program to finance most of the effort. 

The village started construction on its lead pipes about a decade ago, replacing them with copper pipes, but only from the water main to a property’s parkway. This means that many pipes between the parkway and homes are still made from lead. 

The first phase of the lead service line replacement project consists of installing copper service lines from the Buffalo Box valve at the parkway to 18 inches inside buildings that are located south of Roosevelt Road, from Harlem to Beloit Avenue. 

Although the first phase was scheduled to be completed by the end of last year, the bidder that the village awarded didn’t follow all of the required Illinois Environmental Protection Agency specifications and was disqualified. The village has chosen a new bidder for the project and has a preconstruction meeting with them this month so that work on the service lines can start soon, according to Director of Public Works Sal Stella.

The second phase will be a continuation of the first, replacing lead service lines from the parkway into peoples’ homes. This construction will take place south of I-290, from Beloit to Des Plaines Avenue. 

To fund the second phase of the project, the village has been accepted for a $3 million loan program, which is part of the IEPA. The total cost of this phase is estimated to leave the village paying about $45,000 from its own funds. 

“The money is allocated for us, we just have to do our due diligence,” Stella said.  

After the best bidder for the second phase is identified in about a month, approval of the bidder will go to a vote at a village council meeting. Stella said the best-case scenario is construction for the second phase of lead service line replacement will start in late summer or early fall. 

The new copper pipes that the village is installing will run next to the outdated lead lines, which contain a toxic metal that leaches into drinking water and can be harmful to children if ingested.

The City of Chicago, where Forest Park gets its drinking water, treats the water with phosphates to prevent lead pipes from breaking down. Because of this, Stella said there’s minimal lead in Forest Park’s drinking water today. 

Stella said the only time a Forest Parker should be concerned about ingesting toxic amounts of lead in their drinking water is if they’re visiting an abandoned property.

He said, “You literally have to go into a home that’s been vacant for 6 months and take the first draw of water.”