The SafeWater Project is hosting a meeting in southeastern Illinois to talk about potential hazards in groundwater.
Project coordinator Tabitha Tripp says one of the biggest problems in that part of the state involves injection wells associated with the oil and gas industry.
"What we hope to look at through some water testing is to see if there are nitrates, if there's heavy metals, if there's volatile organic compounds, benzenes or even radioactive pollutants."
She says some of the wells are beyond help.
"I have seen some water wells in White County that are so badly impacted that, no, there's no way you can clean them. Then, there's other ones, with the proper filtration systems, that could be installed that the water would then be OK to drink."
Tripp says they hope to help families mitigate the health impacts because some of the wells in White County are beyond treatment to be used safely again.
Tripp says impacted property owners will have to be willing to investigate solutions. She says that could help them determine if the state is enforcing the regulations on water wells.
The community education event is December 17th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Carmi Public Library.
