Durbin Meets with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

Durbin Meets with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's (MWRD) leadership to discuss the department's ongoing projects and top priorities. In their meeting, Durbin received an update on the design and construction of Thornton Reservoir, which was built to reduce chronic flooding. In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), Durbin secured a $20 million for MWRD to address excessive flooding in historically underserved communities in the Chicagoland area, including Harvey, South Holland, and Blue Island.

Durbin and MWRD leadership also spoke about the costs of remediating of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. Durbin recently introduced the Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Actwhich would phase out the unnecessary uses of PFAS, as well as environmental releases into the environment, protecting consumers and the environment from the hazards of these chemicals.

"The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is assigned the important task of keeping our water supply safe while also keeping our water infrastructure in working order," said Durbin. "I offered MWRD my support at the federal level as they continue to complete necessary infrastructure updates and in reducing costs of cleaning up PFAS contamination for Chicagoland communities."

A photo of the meeting is available here.

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