May 2009

U.S. Water News Online

CRESTWOOD, Ill. — A widow who alleges contaminated drinking water contributed to her husband's death has sued a suburban Chicago village and its former mayor.

Attorney Michael Mertz represents Michele Maan De Kok in her recently filed suit. He says former Crestwood resident John Maan De Kok died in 2003 at age 39 from stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Mertz says Maan De Kok was an attorney, but his illness is common to industrial workers exposed to chemicals.

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that state officials in the mid-1980s found a Crestwood well contained chemicals linked to cancer, but village officials allegedly continued to draw its water.

Officials haven't established a link between illnesses and the water. The Associated Press couldn't reach Crestwood officials.

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