EAST ST. LOUIS - Centreville Citizens for Change, which sued Cahokia Heights four years ago to stop living with raw sewage, find that the city, the state and the U.S. plan to start solving their problem without listening to them.
On Jan. 21 they moved to intervene in an action of environmental regulators who seek approval of a consent decree with Cahokia Heights.
Their counsel Mary Rock of Chicago wrote, “Residents cannot wait for years or decades for solutions as the government agencies contemplate. They need to see faster relief.”
She claimed no entity could replace the knowledge of Centreville Citizens for Change, which organized specifically to address sewage.
U.S. District Judge David Dugan stayed the group’s suit pending execution of a decree and Cahokia Heights mayor Curtis McCall signed one in November.
U.S. Attorney Rachelle Crowe signed for the national environmental agency and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul signed for the state agency.
The decree stated, “It is the city’s responsibility to determine how best to fund the work.”
It stated the city has limited financial resources and the parties took the potential burden on the community into consideration in reaching agreement.
It stated the city would add two positions for certified system operators, a third in a year, and a fourth in two years.
It stated the city would involve the public and conduct at least two meetings a year.
It stated the city would submit a report in five years and base a rehabilitation plan on it.
Six years after that the city would submit a second report and base a rehabilitation plan on it.
The city could request up to five more years if financial considerations would impact its ability to meet a schedule for specific work.
The U.S. and the state reserved a right to withdraw the decree if comments disclose facts or considerations indicating it is inappropriate, improper, or inadequate.
Instead of commenting, Centreville Citizens for Change moved to intervene.
Rock wrote that sanitary sewers overflow and sewage enters waterways, runs down roadside ditches and spreads into homes and yards.
She called it an indignity and a health hazard that members have borne too long.
She claimed sewage emits noxious odors and attracts mosquitoes.
“The sewage in waterways deters them from fishing and eating their catch or enjoying outdoor activities such as picnicking with their grandchildren," she wrote.
She quoted a declaration of William McNeal that he sees toilet paper in his yard.
She claimed he can’t enjoy vegetable gardening as he would like.
She claimed residents made state regulators aware of discharges from a pipe on North 82nd Street in 2010, “yet that sanitary sewer overflow remains unresolved.”
She claimed the group informally requested an investigation in 2020 and regulators conducted some inspections.
“Over the next couple of years and with decreasing frequency, U. S. E. P. A. continued to inspect the system and document sewage discharges," she wrote.
“The sewage discharges did not stop.”
She claimed Dugan ordered the agencies to provide the group with a draft of a decree and the group commented on it pursuant to a confidentiality order.
She claimed neither the agencies nor the city conversed with them about their comments.
She quoted from the Act that citizens can’t commence a clean water suit but where the U.S. or the state has commenced one, “any citizen may intervene as a matter of right.”
“Intervention is the mechanism through which Centreville Citizens for Change can meaningfully shape, monitor and enforce any consent decree resulting from the government’s involvement," she wrote.
She claimed broad economic and fiscal interests of the agencies might conflict with specific health, property and environmental interests the group seeks to represent.
The public can comment on the decree through Feb. 17.