Lawsuit blaming MESD for Granite City flooding politically motivated, director says
A lawsuit that alleges the Metro East Sanitary District was negligent during the flash flooding in August in Granite City is politically motivated, the executive director of MESD says.
Edwardsville-based Gori Law Firm filed suit against MESD on Tuesday, alleging the district was negligent in its responsibilities to keep water and sewage out of Granite City residents’ homes.
MESD Executive Director Steve Adler says the law firms suit comes as backlash over attorney Ron Motil’s removal from the Southwestern Illinois Flood Protection board.
Roughly 9.5 inches of rain fell over Granite City the morning of Aug. 12, filling the city’s streets and some resident’s homes and basements with backed-up rainwater and sewage and leaving many homes severely damaged or uninhabitable.
The law firm’s suit alleges negligence by MESD caused hundreds of homes, cars and businesses to “become inundated” with floodwater and sewage.
“We rely on government services like MESD to keep our homes safe,” said Randy Gori, a founding partner of The Gori Law Firm. “The flooding that occurred on Aug. 12 was devastating to so many people.”
Gori said damage from the flooding collapsed foundation walls and caused mold damage, making some homes hazardous or life-threatening to residents.
“If MESD is found to be liable, it will affirm my personal belief that the leadership at MESD has failed our community,” Gori said in a statement.
Adler said responsibility for the damage is being misdirected at the sanitary district and that the lawsuit is being motivated by Madison County Chairman Kurt Prenzler’s pending removal of Motil from the flood protection board.
Adler said Motil’s removal from the board, due to the board’s” failure to address interior flooding,” is driving the lawsuit.
Motil, who is a lawyer with the Gori firm and a longtime member of the flood protection district, responded to Adler’s accusations on Friday, calling them baseless and a deflection. He added that he had not heard of any plans to remove him from the district, of which he has been a member of since its incarnation.
“I really think Adler making these allegations is purely a deflection of his irresponsible actions in allowing this flooding to happen,” he said. “It’s an attempt to deflect his own responsibility at the executive director as MESD.
“I have no idea how they came up with these unfounded allegations.”
Motil said the lawsuit against the MESD is to help residents of Granite City recoup lost damages due to negligence.
“This litigation has nothing to do with retaliation. That is a shocking allegation,” he said. “We filed this because a lot of people in Granite City who suffered a lot of damage over flood water and sewage water in their home. Insurance might cover some of it but not all of it and a lot of people are hurting.”
He added, that if he were to be removed, it would be unwarranted. He noted, however, that outside of Adler’s allegations he had not heard of his possible removal from the board.
“I, to this day, to this moment, I am totally unaware of anyone seeking to replace me or remove me or anything,” he said.
On Thursday, Adler said he believes politics are changing policies of the past for the purpose of “Democratic patronage,” referring to a bill that will take appointments to MESD’s board away from the Madison County Board chairman.
“I consider this action related to the pending legislation designed to replace an existing board member to the MESD in January,” he wrote in an email. “I consider this lawsuit a pretext to my removal from office in January, and I urge the public to remember that NO generalized annual flooding has happened since taking over management of long and Horseshoe Lakes in Mitchell and Pontoon Beach, including August of 2019,” he said.
Adler said the flood damage that took place stemmed from Granite City’s infrastructure and had nothing to do with MESD’s North Pump Station, Nameoki Ditch or Horseshoe Lake.
“Contrary to the lawsuit’s assertions, MESD has no responsibility for storm or sanitary sewers in Granite City, and most of the homeowner’s damage was a result of sanitary systems saturated by stormwater,” Adler said.
MESD says all its pumps were working
In an MESD document regarding the Aug. 12 storm provided to The Belleville News-Democrat, the district stated all pumps at its North Station were fully functional on the date in question but were not needed. According to the document, the river was low enough and the ditch water was high enough that the water drained naturally, meaning the pumps were not needed.
The document also states that MESD was on “full alert” and monitored the entire situation. Any reports of problems at the North Station, the document read, were “completely unfounded.”
Furthermore, the Nameoki Ditch, a stormwater drainage channel in Granite City, performed as designed, the district states. According to the district, the entire ditch was “open and freely flowing.”
Finally, MESD states any reports that its pumps in Granite City were not working are baseless because the district has no pumps in Granite City. The city of Granite City has 27 sewage lift pump stations throughout the city.
“The flooding in Granite City was the result of a nine-inch deluge, which the MESD system handled as well as it could,” he wrote. “Localized flooding within the city of Granite City was not everywhere, but restricted to specific neighborhoods with specific storm and sanitary sewers, which overflowed for a variety of reasons.
Adler included a photo in his email, depicting a storm sewer he described as “paved over by city contractors and never cut out after construction.”
Adler added that if the lawsuit goes forward, Granite City should expect to be “enjoined” in the litigation regarding responsibility and said because of the flash flooding MESD had identified Granite City as the source of substantial fecal coli-form pollution in a waterway leading to Horseshoe Lake.
Victims of flash flooding in Granite City have been met by denials at almost every corner when it comes to relief. The city did not meet a threshold needed for federal funding and its insurance denied all claims made in reference to flash flooding.
The only relief that has come for those repairing their homes or trying to replaced lost or damaged property is in the form of U.S. Small Business Loans; low interest, long term loans for homeowners and business owners who qualify.
Motil, in a statement, said while the loans are good for some individuals, residents shouldn’t be expected to bear the cost of preventable damage.
“I lived in Granite City for a large part of my life, and I’ve never seen flooding like this. I can’t believe that MESD expects the residents to foot the bill for what has happened to their homes and property. I appreciate the low-interest loan opportunities, but people should not have to take on more debt to fix a problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
More than $1 million worth of SBA loans have been awarded to residents and business owners in Granite City and surrounding areas.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 4:09 PM.