Skokie declares public-health emergency after Feb. 14 water main failure; boil order lifted after testing

Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen and village staff declared a public-health emergency after a Feb. 14 failure of two primary water transmission mains at East Prairie Road and Emerson Street, mobilizing the village’s emergency operations center and activating county and state emergency-management support.

Village Manager John Lockerbie opened the Feb. 18 presentation by asking the board to approve “a resolution declaring an emergency affecting the public health due to the transmission water break...at East Prairie Road and at Emerson Street on Friday, 02/14/2025,” and said the declaration makes resources available through county and state emergency management.

Public Works Director Max Slankard gave a detailed account of the break. He said the village’s two 36-inch mains provide the vast majority of Skokie’s daily water flow and that the failure was reported about 5:15 a.m. Friday when police observed water in the roadway. The village activated its emergency operations center at 7:12 a.m. and convened at 7:30 a.m. to coordinate response.

Slankard described the repair timeline: contractors began work Friday evening, crews restored supply from Evanston by about 9:10 p.m., and system repressurization permitted water-quality sampling beginning Saturday afternoon. "In order to lift the boil order, Skokie is required to take 70 water samples from various locations in the community and demonstrate that the water is clean, meets all IEPA standards, and is safe to drink," Slankard said. The village received laboratory confirmation that all samples tested negative by 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, and lifted the boil order that evening.

Slankard said the damaged transmission piece was a y‑junction at the intersection and that an end plate or cap was displaced when exposed; he said the exact cause requires further expert analysis and the village will retain specialists to study the failure and recommend mitigation for similar joints.

Fire Chief Jeff Hoeflich described measures to maintain fire protection during the outage, including mutual‑aid water tenders and a mobile drafting pumper. Hoeflich said local and regional fire agencies provided tankers that collectively carried at least 10,000 gallons for emergency response and that one tanker refilled a hospital tank on a scheduled rotation.

Communications and engagement director Patrick Dignan summarized the village’s public-notification efforts, saying the village used its Smart911/emergency notification system, weekly e‑newsletter (“The Scoop”), the village website, cable channel 16 and social media. Dignan said the village sent six emergency notifications via the Smart911 system, eight updates via the newsletter, and posted repeated updates on the website; he reported that about 28,000 people visited the website on Friday, compared with a typical 1,500–2,500.

Village staff described resident support efforts: door‑to‑door deliveries and bottled water distribution organized with community partners; the Red Cross opened an overnight shelter at the Unitarian Church in Evanston; the village temporarily suspended late fees for water bills for affected customers; and the Economic Vitality Division worked with health and fire departments to assist businesses evaluating safety to open.

The village asked residents with property damage to report losses to riskmgmt@skokie.org to support a preliminary damage assessment being prepared for Cook County Emergency Management and potential state or federal public-assistance reimbursement. John Lockerbie said documentation of damages will be important for any declaration that enables public assistance.

Public comment at the meeting included multiple residents who reported basement flooding, damaged vehicles and personal property, and concerns about late or unclear communications during the incident. Several callers urged clearer and more frequent status updates during future emergencies and better outreach to residents without internet access.

After public remarks, the board voted to approve the emergency declaration. Trustee Zucker moved to adopt the resolution; Trustee Robinson seconded. Roll call recorded ayes from Trustee Setker, Trustee Robinson, Trustee (name not specified in transcript), Trustee Johnson, Trustee Klein and Mayor Van Dusen. The motion passed.

The village said restoration work at the intersection and surrounding right-of-way — including inlet/drain repairs, pavement restoration and other surface restoration — will continue. Slankard said the repaired pipe needed flushing and additional chlorination steps before being fully returned to service and that the village would bring the line back into service when safe and practical.

The village also said it will commission an independent failure analysis, review as‑built records for similar components, and undertake a post‑incident review to capture lessons learned.

Residents seeking to report damage or request follow-up should use the village’s risk management email, and the village will publish further updates on its website and through its notification systems.