OSWEGO, IL, June 7, 2005 -- The village of Oswego announced today it will begin removing radium from its drinking water supply using the only environmentally progressive technology licensed by the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety.
Colorado-based Water Remediation Technology's (WRT) state-of-the-art process safely removes radium from the drinking water and transfers the dangerous carcinogen to a federally approved disposal facility. U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) secured federal funding to pay for a portion of the public health and safety project.
"The village of Oswego is proud to take an environmental-friendly approach to the radium issue," said Oswego's Village President Craig Weber. "We are extremely pleased to employ WRT, the state's only licensed process, ensuring residents a clean drinking water supply and protecting the public's health and safety."
Like more than 100 Illinois communities, Oswego's water exceeded the revised accepted level of radium in the public water supply set by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Village officials said they chose WRT because it removes the radium from the drinking water and transfers it to an out-of-state licensed waste disposal facility. In addition, the officials cited the simple operation process which does not require municipal workers to handle the radioactive material. Other radium removal alternatives discharge the radium into the sewer and spread the resulting sludge on Illinois farmland, which results in some discharge of radium into area rivers and streams.
"I commend the leaders of Oswego and Speaker Hastert for their commitment to preserving the environment and protecting the health and safety of community residents," said WRT President Charles Williams. "The best long-term solution for the land, environment and the drinking water is to remove the radium altogether so that Illinois residents are not threatened by this radioactive substance in future years."
Oswego Public Works Director Jerry Weaver said besides being a cleaner process, WRT saves Oswego residents millions. "WRT's process is the most environmentally sound and cost-effective method to deal with this problem," said Weaver.
Based in Arvada, Colo., Water Remediation Technology Inc. (www.wrtnet.com) manufactures, installs and maintains patent-pending processes using its proven proprietary media for removing arsenic, radium, uranium, chromium, barium, ammonia and other contaminants.
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