A lawsuit filed Monday in Champaign County Circuit Court contends that contamination from a natural gas leak north of Mahomet has spread to additional residential water wells.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers representing Champaign County have put forward a package of five bills in the Illinois General Assembly they say will protect the Mahomet Aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for more than 500,000 people in the state.

Some of the 17 plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against People’s Gas spoke out at a Mahomet Aquifer Task Force meeting on Monday in Mahomet. They asked the state advisory panel to help ensure they have clean water, after their water wells were contaminated by a gas leak.

Seventeen people are suing Peoples Gas for damages related to a natural gas leak north of Mahomet that affected their drinking water.

Peoples Gas faces another lawsuit in connection with a natural gas leak that contaminated private water wells near Mahomet. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $50,000 each in damages, plus punitive damages against the company.