County sanitary district says consent-decree work is on schedule; projects mostly “gray” infrastructure

A county sanitary-district representative told the committee that consent-decree obligations resulting from EPA and state reviews are segmented between the City of Peoria and the Greater Peoria Sanitary District, and that the sanitary district’s work is primarily “gray” infrastructure and is ahead of schedule. Brian Johnson (staff member) summarized recent work and said the consent decree was signed by the US EPA, Illinois EPA, City of Peoria and GPSD and that the city’s obligations emphasized green infrastructure while GPSD’s projects involve enlarging interceptors and other pipeline work. “When the consent decree was signed between US EPA, Illinois EPA, City of Peoria, and GPSD ... City Of Peoria had a lot of green infrastructure ... Our section, however ... all of our projects were gray in nature, making pipes bigger,” Johnson said. He added that GPSD updates a monthly dashboard and posts the consent-decree documents online so the public can track progress. Committee member Betty asked about the drinking-water lead work; Johnson said lead-pipe replacement is a drinking-water issue handled by Illinois American Water and that the county would need to consult the water company for a status update. The presentation listed recent actions including a sewer extension partnership with the City of Peoria to serve Haven on the Farm on Route 150 and the annexation of Frostwood Apartments into the sanitary district’s service area; Johnson said the district remains generally ahead of schedule on its listed projects. No formal decisions were made at the meeting. Johnson offered to provide links to the consent-decree materials and monthly dashboards to any board members who requested them.