Elmhurst Main Break Under Investigation: Official

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst is investigating the main break that affected a quarter of the city earlier this month and expects reimbursement from those responsible, the city manager said Monday.

At a City Council meeting, City Manager Jim Grabowski said NPL, a contractor for Nicor, caused a 12-inch water main to separate. The incident, which happened about 3:45 p.m. July 5 was directly related to the contractor's deep excavation close to the main, he said.

Within 15 minutes of being notified of the leak, the city issued a public statement about it, Grabowski said. It also immediately issued a boil order for a fourth of the city because of a big drop in water pressure, he said.

"Public works crews were quick to the site to assess the situation and, as soon as possible, closed the proper valves to isolate the leak," Grabowski said.

The city, he said, hired a contractor for the deep excavation to solve the problem because the contractor had equipment the city did not have.

"The city contractor mobilized and started work at approximately 9 p.m. that evening and worked late into the night, even working through a thunderstorm," Grabowski said. "They returned Thursday morning to finish the repair."

The boil order lasted four days.

Grabowski cited the city's multiple notifications to the public on the status of the repairs and boil order. But he said the city would examine how it could better improve its communications.

Now, city departments are tabulating their costs related to the emergency for the "expected reimbursement" from NPL, Grabowski said.

The affected area was bounded by the Union Pacific railroad tracks on the north, Butterfield Road on the south, York Street on the west and Interstate 294 on the east.

Patch left messages for comment with Nicor and NPL. Nicor is a natural gas utility.