Cahokia Heights residents raise questions about $10M grant to fix flooding, sewer issues

A residents’ group is skeptical about a new state funding opportunity designed to alleviate ongoing flooding and sewage issues in Cahokia Heights.

They’re not sure the grant, if awarded, would help in Cahokia Heights because they have yet to see officials make significant improvements in addressing the flooding problems that have affected them for years.

“I mean, we can talk about grants all day long, but where’s the action,?” said Joan Dancy, a member of Centreville Citizens for Change. The group is composed of residents who want solutions to decades-long flooding problems in the former north Centreville section of Cahokia Heights.

The $10 million notice of funding opportunity was announced by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month. The notice says the grant is specifically intended to fix Cahokia Heights’ flooding and sewage issues.

“The goal of this Project is to improve the quality of life of Illinoisans. The intent of this grant is to fund wastewater collection and transport infrastructure rehabilitation and restoration for the municipality of Cahokia Heights, “ the notice states. “Eligible activities can include, but are not limited to, lift station and sewer collection system improvements. In addition, equipment necessary for future operation and maintenance of the sanitary sewer collection system within the Project Area is eligible, as agreed to by the Grantor.”

The state agency announced on September 1 that it is accepting applications for the grant until September 30. Any unit of Illinois government that’s authorized to perform restoration and rehabilitation on wastewater collection systems within the area is eligible to apply.

Once awarded, the recipient has until March 15, 2022, to start the project, which can take up to three years to implement.

Centreville Citizens for Change has expressed concerns about the funding opportunity. Some of the group’s demands, which were issued shortly after the state announced the grant opportunity, are the following:

• For residents in the community to be lead consultants in overseeing how funds will be spent

• For transparency and oversight over the recipient of the grant, given that it’s available for the same officials who’ve previously failed to fix the area’s flooding situation

• For financial relief for residents’ damaged homes

Cahokia Heights Mayor Curtis McCall Sr. said the city plans to apply for the grant. He said he has been in meetings with state and federal officials to discuss the flooding and sewer problems and wants to assure residents that fixing them is among his top priorities.

“We’re putting our heads together, along with our grant team, and we’ll be submitting an application for that by the deadline,” he said.

Although Nicole Nelson, a lawyer representing Centreville Citizens for Change, is grateful of the attention the area’s flooding problems is receiving, she said residents have issues with the city possibly receiving the grant funds, given local leaders’ past negligence in addressing the situation.

Additionally, she said residents would have liked to have known about the proposed grant prior to the announcement because Illinois EPA employees often attend meetings held by the group.

“I don’t know how you appear on a resident meeting that is for the purpose of engaging with them and keeping them up to date with what’s going on with your agency and then the next day, roll out a grant that, if you look at the announcement, is specifically for Cahokia Heights and then the quick turnaround is September 30,” Nelson said.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency declined to be interviewed for this story, citing the open application period for the grant. The agency noted that it was not made aware of the concerns of Centreville Citizens for Change, although it confirmed that some agency employees often attend meetings held by the group.

Nelson said the action to not inform residents is yet another example of residents being excluded from flooding relief plans in the area.

“It’s a huge disconnect between those they are allowing at the table and those who are on the ground and living through it,” Nelson said.

Flooding for decades

Residents in the Centreville area of Cahokia Heights, the city formed this year by the merger of Alorton, Centreville and Cahokia, have experienced persistent sewage and flooding problems in their homes and neighborhoods for over 40 years. The issue has resulted in two lawsuits filed on behalf of residents against local governments and a public utility, along with visits from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sens Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.

But Joan Dancy hasn’t seen any improvements in her area.

“There’s a lot of big talk as usual, but I haven’t seen anything yet, so I would really like to see what’s going on and what they’re going to do,” Dancy said.

Dancy, 60, was raised in Centreville and returned to the city in 2015 to care for her parents.

“I was born and raised out here and I remember years ago there being some flooding, and me, being a little kid, it probably looked like an ocean or lake to me, but now I’m an adult and these things are still happening,” Dancy said. “I move away and come back and nothing has been done.”

William McNeal, another member of Centreville Citizens of Change, also hasn’t seen improvements in his area. He’s lived in his home on 82nd Street since 1977. He and his wife currently live in different homes because of the damages his home has endured due to flooding.

“The water just goes up under my house, sits under my house, (messed) my floors out 2,3 times, and the city doesn’t do nothing,” McNeal said. “You can complain about it, and that doesn’t do any good because (they say) give us time, give us time. Well, how much time do you need?”

Having access to drinking water is another problem for MacNeal. In August, the US EPA ordered Cahokia Heights to take immediate actions to prevent drinking-water contamination.

“We can’t even drink our water out here,” McNeal said.” (A local Urban League) donates water to us...I do most of my washing at my wife’s house. She doesn’t live with me because (you) can’t get the water in the house and she has kids.”

McNeal, 70, is also hoping that any flooding relief coming to the city will include helping him to repair his home.

“Right now, I’m on a fixed income, and it’s hard for me to even do any repairs anymore because I just don’t have the money when I get through paying my bills for my car and my insurance,” McNeal said. “I just don’t have the money to do nothing, and it’s really boiling down.”

Nelson wants agencies like the Illinois EPA to make funding available to help residents pay for the constant repairs on their homes after flooding.

“Even if you go through and you fix all of these things, and you do all of these mitigation measures and you get this $10 million and you go through and you do what you’re supposed to do to repair and maintain and even put in new systems, residents are still left with homes that are damaged,” Nelson said.

This would be the second Illinois EPA-funded project announced since last year that’s geared toward reducing flooding and sewage issues for Cahokia Heights residents. The first, a nearly $1 million grant, was awarded to Heartlands Conservancy, a Belleville-based organization, this spring.

Heartlands met with Centreville Citizens for Change during its bi-weekly meeting last week. Belinda McAllister, community and partnerships coordinator for Heartlands, said she wants to ensure that residents aren’t left behind.

“The residents are officially, in our eyes, the true experts,” McAllister said. “People who experience flooding and environmental hazards and environmental issues, no one can really tell them based on book and paper what it is, so we definitely respect these residents to the highest agree.”

McCall, the mayor of Cahokia Heights, said he’s been in meetings with state and federal officials discussing how to improve the water and sewage infrastructure, although the recent order from the U.S. EPA caused him to shift his focus on looking into possible water contamination. He said he’s grateful for the partnership the city has with both the state and federal environmental agencies.

He hopes Cahokia Heights receives the grant, considering the city didn’t get a nearly $22 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency it sought earlier this year.

The agency’s grant program, titled Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, is designed to help communities reduce the risk of natural disasters, such as flooding. McCall said he was disappointed that the city didn’t receive the grant, but he’s optimistic about the city receiving the state EPA’s grant.

“If you talk with the Illinois EPA or the EPA, they will tell you that the leadership that we have shown, the desire to work with these government agencies is there and their desire to work with us has been tremendous,” McCall said.

McCall is a defendant in a June 2020 lawsuit filed on behalf of residents against the former city of Centreville and other local entities over the flooding and sewer issues. Other defendants are Marius Jackson, Centreville’s former mayor; Lamar Gentry, former city planner for Alorton and Centreville; Centreville Township, and Commonfields of Cahokia Public Water District. McCall is the former Centreville Township supervisor and Commonfields board chairman.

In July, another lawsuit was filed on behalf of residents against the new city of Cahokia Heights and Commonfields of Cahokia Public Water District.

The first lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, with a trial date set for June 2022. The second lawsuit is awaiting response from the defendants and a court status.

Centreville Citizens for Change is hoping that the group’s demands are heard. Residents in the group feel left out of relief plans, and they haven’t received the relief that they want.

“It’s almost like we don’t know anything,” Joan Dancy said. “We’re in the dark, and we’re the ones who are living this, not them.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.

DeAsia Paige

Belleville News-Democrat

DeAsia Paige joined the Belleville News-Democrat as a Report for America corps member in 2020. She’s a community reporter covering East St. Louis and surrounding areas. DeAsia previously interned with VICE and The Detroit Free Press. She graduated from The University of Kansas in 2020.