Sewage

The complaint alleges that untreated sewage spills from East St. Louis outfalls into the Mississippi River and Whispering Willow Lake during “high-flow conditions,” such as heavy rain.

Outdated and poorly maintained sewage and stormwater systems have led to chronic sewage backups in communities across the country.

Officials and lawyers representing the city said Cahokia Heights had still not received most of the funding.

It’s been over three months since Illinois lawmakers requested a federal public health assessment because of residents’ repeated exposure to sewage from broken municipal infrastructure.

Replacing the sewer line is an essential step in fixing Cahokia Heights' faulty system that's left residents with backed-up toilets, flooded basements and standing water in their yards.

Cahokia Heights has still not received most of the millions of dollars that state and federal leaders said two years ago would be available to fix broken infrastructure.

The allegations center around the more than $50 million St. Clair County received from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.

The federal agency took similar action to address lead contamination in Flint, Michigan. The goal of the coordinator will be to maximize the federal government’s response to long-standing issues in Cahokia Heights.

In far south St. Louis County, workers are using huge machines to dig a $175 million tunnel. It’s part of a Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District project aimed at preventing sewers from overflowing. That could allow the district to treat all of the region's wastewater and protect the environment.

As fewer people are getting tested for the coronavirus in offices, labs and pharmacies, sewer shed surveillance has become one of the most accurate ways to show the virus still exists in the community. The state and its partners at the University of Missouri are monitoring 112 sites to see if viral particles are increasing and if new variants are emerging in the region's wastewater.