Illinois

DOJ sues Illinois city over untreated sewage discharge

Published

1 year ago

December 12, 2024

DOJ sues Illinois city over untreated sewage discharge

An Illinois city once home to Miles Davis, Tina Turner and Senator Dick Durbin is being sued over allegations that its sewage discharge practices violate the Clean Water Act

Following an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the EPA filed a complaint and a call for penalties and infrastructure improvements to sewage treatment in East St. Louis, Illinois, after finding that “hundreds of unlawful discharges of untreated sewage” ended up in the Mississippi River and Whispering Willow Lake in Frank Holten State Park, violating the Clean Water Act.

Whispering Willow Lake is used by the public for fishing and boating, and the parts of the Mississippi River investigated by the EPA are reserved for swimming and kayaking. Exposure to raw sewage and e. coli in water poses serious health risks, including skin infections, ear and eye infections, vomiting and diarrhea.

“East St. Louis’ failure to monitor outfalls interferes with EPA’s ability to evaluate the danger that discharges to these water bodies pose to human health,” the DOJ said.

An American flag flies in the breeze high above the Mississippi River in the village of Hamburg, Illinois, on June 20, 2008. The EPA is suing the city of East St. Louis, Illinois, for polluting…

Win McNamee/Getty Images

The DOJ said that both of East St. Louis’ sewage facilities are “in a state of disrepair” and added that “the city’s failure to properly operate and maintain these systems has led to additional discharges of combined or sanitary sewage into streets and buildings and has put members of the public at risk for unknowingly coming into contact with untreated sewage.”

Newsweek contacted East St. Louis Mayor Charles Powell III and the Illinois EPA via email for comment.

Another Illinois city, Cahokia Heights, recently reached a settlement with the EPA regarding its sewage treatment.

The settlement requires the city to pay a $30,000 civil penalty and implement an estimated $30 million to compliance measures to ensure that they do not release any more treated or untreated sewage into water, ditches, roads, yards and homes.

The Illinois EPA said that its Environmental Justice Policy exists to “promote environmental equity in this State,” and works to “ensure that communities are not disproportionately impacted by degradation of the environment or receive a less than equitable share of environmental protection and benefits.”

East St. Louis and Cahokia Heights are majority-Black cities that have experienced potentially toxic water because of sewage run-off and improperly maintained sewage systems.

“Both of these cases reflect the improper operation and maintenance of sewer systems located in environmental justice communities where both residents and the environment have been negatively impacted,” Illinois EPA Acting Director James Jennings said.

“Illinois EPA has worked closely with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Justice to address our concerns and ultimately bring resolution to Cahokia Heights and East St. Louis.”

Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact  LiveNews@newsweek.com

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Illinois

Over 81K deer harvested in Illinois firearm deer season

Published

41 minutes ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Over 81K deer harvested in Illinois firearm deer season

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KWQC) – Early numbers show more than 81,000 deer were harvested during Illinois’ firearm deer season this year.

Officials said preliminary totals show 91,225 deer were harvested during the seven-day season that ended on Dec. 7, according to a news release.

This is down from the 82,496 deer harvested during the firearm season last year, officials said.

Local firearm deer season totals:

Rock Island County: 728
Whiteside County: 699
Jo Davies County: 1,336
Knox County: 1,057
Henry County: 572
Mercer County: 873
Warren County: 516
Bureau County: 909

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Illinois

Bears again expand stadium search, including outside Illinois

Published

13 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Bears again expand stadium search, including outside Illinois

CHICAGO — Three days before hosting their biggest game at Soldier Field in years, the Chicago Bears are exploring moving outside the city for which they are named.

In an open letter to fans Wednesday evening, team president and CEO Kevin Warren said the Bears will explore other locations — including outside of Cook County, where the team owns a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights, Illinois — to build a domed stadium.

That includes moving the Bears out of Illinois altogether.

“In addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana,” Warren said. “This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights.

“Our fans deserve a world-class stadium. Our players and coaches deserve a venue that matches the championship standard they strive for every day. With that in mind, our organization must keep every credible pathway open to deliver that future.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker pushed back against a potential move of the team out of the state.

“Suggesting the Bears would move to Indiana is a startling slap in the face to all the beloved and loyal fans who have been rallying around the team during this strong season,”Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill said in a statement. “The Governor’s a Bears fan who has always wanted them to stay in Chicago. He has also said that ultimately they are a private business.”

The Bears purchased the Arlington Park property that formerly housed the Arlington International Racecourse for $197 million in 2023, shortly before Warren replaced Ted Phillips as team president and CEO. The Bears proposed building a 60,000-seat fixed-roof stadium within a $5 billion mixed-use development.

Not long after closing on the land in Arlington Heights, the team began exploring options for a new stadium site when it announced its plans to build at the Arlington Park site were “at risk” as negotiations over property taxes reached a $100 million impasse.

Shortly before the 2024 draft, the Bears shifted their focus to building their new stadium on the lakefront south of Soldier Field and announced they would invest more than $2 billion in private money into the construction and development of the stadium and surrounding areas.

Although the team has maintained that the construction of a new stadium will be privately funded, concerns over the burden placed on taxpayers to fund the infrastructure around the stadium led to an impasse. That led the Bears to explore Arlington Heights once again as an option, which Warren announced during league meetings in April. Ahead of the Bears’ home opener against theMinnesota Vikingson Sept. 8, Warren released a letter to fans, saying the team’s sights were set on building in Arlington Heights. He has said throughout the year that the goal was to break ground before the end of 2025.

However, the Bears have been in a battle with lawmakers over tax breaks and securing $855 million in public funding for costs related to building the new stadium.

“We have not asked for state taxpayer dollars to build the stadium at Arlington Park,” Warren said. “We asked only for a commitment to essential local infrastructure [roads, utilities, and site improvements], which is more than typical for projects of this size. Additionally, we sought reasonable property tax certainty to secure financing. We listened to state leadership and relied on their direction and guidance, yet our efforts have been met with no legislative partnership.”

The Bears’ current lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033. On Saturday night, the 10-4 Bears will host the Green Bay Packers in a high-stakes meeting that will heavily determine Chicago’s path to the postseason.br/]

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