Sandwich agrees to treat sewage with ultraviolet light

SANDWICH - The city will agree to install additional sewage-treatment equipment at the request of several environmental groups, Mayor Tom Thomas said Monday. When the city's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit came up for renewal this year, Friends of the Fox River, Boy Scouts of America, Prairie River Networks, the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club and a private citizen in Aurora objected to the renewal and requested a hearing before the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Thomas said. At issue was whether the city should have to disinfect its water, a requirement under state water regulations that Sandwich and many other Illinois communities had been given exemptions from over the years. Thomas said t