Lawrenceville hit with Illinois EPA violations

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 at 11:50 AM

By Steve Anderson

The city of Lawrenceville has been notified by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) that it is in violation of environmental regulations regarding its sanitary sewer system.

The official letter came last Friday according to Mayor David Courtney, and it alleges that existing laws regarding reporting of environmental issues and testing reports were not followed after residential complaints of sewage backups into basements were received by the water and sewer department following extensive, heavy rainfall on April 5th that led to a system overflow.

The city did some smoke-testing of the sewer lines in an effort to find defective areas that may be blocked as part in initial efforts to alleviate the situation. Courtney told GIANT-FM News that the city has been given 45 days to work with its engineering firm HMG based out of Breese, Ill on a response to the letter and a compliance commitment agreement outlining a plan and steps to rectify the problem.

The mayor added that the city is looking forward to working with the EPA to come up with a solution