Home FEATURE STORY Ruben Luna Bruce Brummel Libby Thompson Bill Sinn Dave Erickson Tom Schultz Anna Sutton Anonymous Dana Weese Bill Fleming Update:Nicor denies contamination issue again Denise CrosbyDenise Crosby weighs in. Find out more. The Documents View Gallery Download .pdfs The Culprit? Workers at the Nicor plant in Aurora believe methylene chloride was leaking into drinking water at the plant How can your water go bad ? Without a fairly simple device, it’s easy for polluted water to back up into your shower. Download the page Read More Peril in the pipes Backflow problems have had serious consequences in the United States. Find out more. Additional Links Nicor Co. Information via Google Nicor Corporate Homepage OSHA Homepage Credits Story by:
Matt Hanley Photos by:
Donnell Collins
Is this the culprit?

This photo was taken at the Nicor plant on River Street in Aurora by a former employee. Employees there believe that pipes were cross connected, allegedly allowing a carcinogenic chemical to leak in the drinking water. In 2003, the city of Aurora sent a notice to Nicor, instructing them to disconnect the boiler because it posed a threat to the city’s water supply. Nicor denies that there was ever an unsafe condition or that any workers were ever put at risk. Methylene chloride, sometimes called dichloromethane, is a volatile, colorless liquid with a chloroform-like odor. It was first prepared by French chemist Henri Victor Regnault in 1840.

Workers at the Nicor plant in Aurora believe methylene chloride was leaking into drinking water at the plant, and two tests by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration showed high levels of the chemical compound in tap water samples taken in 2003

Typically, methylene chloride is a chemical compound that's used to strip paint, manufacture foam and decrease chemical buildup in pipes, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Association. Most people come in contact with it in an airborne form. According to many agencies, including OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor, methylene chloride is classified as a carcinogen.

Jewell D. Wilson, an environmental health scientist for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, said people who are exposed to methylene chloride begin to feel light-headed and could lose consciousness.

"The main organ that is damaged during long exposure is the liver," Wilson said. "The liver is like a target organ for where this is found."

However, while there are cases of airborne exposure or high concentration and short term ingestion, Wilson said there are no known cases of humans ingesting methylene chloride in low doses over a long period of time, as Nicor workers allege happen.