Water Cooler

Man Wants To Thwart Water Tower With Pig Farm

Law Forbids Wells, But Not Water Towers, From Being Within 400 Feet Of Pig Farms

ISLAND LAKE, Ill. (Northwest Herald) ― Bob Wargaski wants his pigs to bring home much more than bacon.

He's hoping his planned pig-confinement facility will thwart the village's plans to build a water tower and well across from his home on 5 acres just outside village limits. State law prohibits wells – but not water towers – from being within 400 feet of the facilities, which collect fecal matter underground.

Village officials intend to pursue a water facility for the north side regardless of Wargaski's farm, or the lawsuit he filed to stop it last winter, although they do not have a backup plan, Trustee Debbie Herrmann said.

"I don't know what is going to come of this," Herrmann said. "I'm sure it won't be good if it goes forward in that matter."

Wargaski has opposed the proposed tower and well for years, alleging that they would draw water away from his well and devalue the property where he has lived since 1972.

He began nosing around for a loophole in state law after he said village officials ignored his concerns.

"I just found a way to get the law to work for me, and using my property for what I am able to use my property for," said Wargaski, an industrial paint contractor who also keeps a herd of 40 bison in northern Wisconsin.

Village President Tom Hyde declined to comment on the situation.

But Herrmann said the plans met all the requirements for an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permit. The system would loop into the village's system and help serve three new developments on the north side, including Walnut Glen, a 222-home development west of Dowell Road, she said.

"As development increases – this month alone we issued four permits for starts in Walnut Glen – we need to get that other tower up to service that part of the community," she said.

A hearing is scheduled Thursday to consider the village's motion to dismiss Wargaski's lawsuit, which alleges that the village tried to violate its own zoning rules to build the water system before leaders passed an ordinance that would exempt village land from zoning law.

Meanwhile, Illinois Department of Agriculture officials planned this week to either approve or request more information on Wargaski's project, which he estimated would take less than a month and about $20,000 to finish. Area residents have been suggesting names for Wargaski's farm, including "Bob's Bay of Pigs," "Pig Pro Quo," and "Hubris Ham – No Water Added."

If it is approved, Wargaski would be authorized to house up to 50 pigs – 20 pigs heavier than 55 pounds and 30 lighter than 55 pounds – in a 33-foot-by-11-foot facility, said Warren Goetsch, bureau chief for the department's environmental programs.

The village could not build the well within 400 feet of the facility if Wargaski builds it before the well is built, said Rick Cobb, department manager for the IEPA's public water supplies division. It essentially would render the permit the village already received for the tower useless.

"In other words, [it's] which one is constructed first," Cobb said. "It's not who got the permit first."

By Jillian Duchnowksi / Northwest Herald

(CBS 2 and the Northwest Herald are news partners covering stories in the northwest suburbs. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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