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.

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.”

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