Press Releases
Year
Private Wells Should Be Tested Regularly To Check for Contamination
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2009
Contact
Jeff Blackford, Program Coordinator Environmental Health
(217) 531-2919
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Private Wells Should Be Tested Regularly To Check for Contamination
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Encourages Residents of Champaign County with Private Wells to Test Water Annually
Champaign, IL – In recognition of Ground Water Awareness Week, March 8 – 14, 2009, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) encourages residents of Champaign County with private wells to test their water annually for certain contaminants. Private water wells should be tested every year for evidence of coliform bacteria and nitrates, and should be tested more frequently if there are recurrent incidents of gastrointestinal illness or there are changes in taste, odor or appearance. Private well water test kits are available at the Environmental Health Division of CUPHD located at 201 West Kenyon Road in Champaign from 8:00am – 4:00pm; Monday through Friday. Each test kit is $20.00.
CUPHD also encourages residents of Champaign County to test for arsenic. General information, labs for testing, and companies that provide treatment for arsenic can be found at http://c-uphd/wells.html.
“Private well water safety is often overlooked by the general public”, said Jeff Blackford, Program Coordinator of Environmental Health at CUPHD. “The water from a homeowner’s private well is not checked by any agency. It is the homeowners responsibility to ensure that their drinking water is free of contaminants.”
In Illinois, there is an estimated 400,000 private water wells that serve 1.3 million people. It is extremely important that water wells be located and constructed in such a manner that they yield safe water at all times and under all conditions. If a resident has questions or concerns regarding the location or construction of a private well, they should contact a Licensed Illinois Water Well Contractor. Local Licensed Water Well Contractors are found at http://c-uphd/wells.html.
To ensure a safe water supply, residents are also encouraged to follow the following simple guidelines:
- Keep hazardous chemicals, such as paint, fertilizer, pesticides, and motor oil far away from the well.
- Maintain a proper separation (at least 50 feet) between the well and private septic systems, kennels, livestock operations, and chemical storage areas.
- Seal abandoned water wells.
- Periodically check the well cover or well cap on top of the casing to ensure it is in good repair and securely attached. This seal should keep out insects and rodents. There should be no openings into the cap, except for a factory installed vent.
- Keep your well records in a safe place. These include construction reports, annual water well system maintenance and water testing results.
For more information on private water wells or any other CUPHD program, please contact CUPHD at (217) 352-7961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
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Local Educators Address the “Birds & Bees”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2009
Contact
Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator
(217) 531-2916
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Local Educators Address the “Birds & Bees”
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Provide FREE Training Workshop for Local Educators
Champaign, IL – On Friday, March 6, 2009 the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) will be providing local educators with a FREE training workshop on how to effectively address sexual education in their classrooms. The workshop will be held from 9:00am – 3:00pm in the large conference room in CUPHD at 201 West Kenyon Road, Champaign. Interested educators are encouraged to call Jennifer Jackson 217-531-2912 to register for the workshop. The workshop materials are adaptable to any age group, and teachers from all grade levels are encouraged to attend. Lunch will be provided.
The workshop will introduce educators to the curriculums “Our Whole Lives” (OWL) and the supplement “Family Life and Sexual Health (FLASH). Both abstinence-based programs stress the importance of youth and young adults being well informed so that they can make better and healthier decisions about sexuality. Both curriculums have been identified by the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) as meeting the criteria for comprehensive sexuality education. The curriculums will provide educators with accurate, age-appropriate information for five different age groups: grades K-1, grades 4-6, grades 7-9, grades 10-12, and adults. The curriculums are user friendly and flexible to meet the educational needs of most classrooms, and include easy to copy ageappropriate worksheets and activities.
Through the workshop educators will discover how to effectively teach their students about:
- Medically Accurate Human Development
- Relationships
- Personal Skills
- Sexual Behavior
- Sexual Health
- The Role of Society and Culture
- Self Worth
- Responsibility
- Justice and Inclusivity
- MUCH MORE!
“Sexual health is much more complex than accurately portraying the physical aspects,” said Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator for CUPHD, “The goal of this sexual education workshop is to provide the resources necessary for local educators to give students the most up-to-date medically accurate information about sexual health available. Discussing sexual health can be uncomfortable for both the students and educator, and often times fraught with misinformation. CUPHD hopes that this workshop will provide additional avenues for local educators to approach and successfully teach comprehensive sexual education in a way that students will respond to in a positive and confident manner.”
In addition to the workshop curriculums, all participating educators will gain access to the CUPHD Resource Lending Library. Participants may request materials on a variety of sexual education topics, and CUPHD will send them directly to the schools free of charge. CUPHD also offers technical assistance in the form of professionally trained Health Educators to support efforts to educate the youth of the Champaign-Urbana community.
For more information about sexual education workshops at CUPHD, or any other CUPHD programs and services, please call 217-352-7961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.cuphd.org or www.stock2forflu.com.
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Human Placentas Discovered By Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2009
Contact
Julie Pryde, Administrator
(217) 531-5369 /
Duane Northrup, Champaign County Coroner
(217) 384-3888
Amy Roberts, Public Relations
(217) 531-4264 /
Human Placentas Discovered By Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District
Unusual Event Under Investigation By Local Authorities
Champaign, IL – For the third time in just over a month, a healthy human placenta has been found by workers at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. Urbana Police contacted the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), and the Champaign County Coroner’s Office for assistance with this unusual situation. According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Rules and Regulations, human placentas are considered potentially infectious medical waste, and should not be disposed of in the municipal sewage system.
“I can say with absolute certainty that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has never received a call of this nature,” said Julie A. Pryde, Public Health Administrator at CUPHD. “CUPHD has been asked by local authorities to assist with disseminating information to the community to ensure that this situation does not occur again.”
Persons assisting with home births, human or animal, should not dispose of placentas through the municipal sewage system—through flushing down the toilet or depositing them in a storm sewer. Placentas should be treated as any other solid, potentially infectious medical waste, and disposed of properly. Hospitals, clinics, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District have contracts with licensed medical waste disposal companies.
The individual or individuals in the community that have been engaging in this practice must stop immediately and begin disposing of the medical waste associated with home births in an approved manner. Persons assisting with home births can contact the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Champaign for disposal guidance by calling (217) 278-5800. Local health authorities strongly encourage community members to alert the proper agencies if they have any information regarding the unauthorized disposal of medical waste.
The average human placenta or afterbirth is nine inches in length, and is about one inch thick. It typically weighs approximately one pound, and is dark reddish or maroon in color. The placenta is connected to the fetus by an umbilical cord of approximately 22-24 inches in length which supplies the fetus with nutrients and oxygen from the mother, and transfers waste products and carbon dioxide from the fetus for disposal by the mother.
For more information on CUPHD and its many programs, please contact CUPHD at (217) 3527961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.Stock2forFlu or www.c-uphd.org.
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