How we investigated public health agencies’ response to sewage exposure in Cahokia Heights
The Belleville News-Democrat identified a major gap in coverage of the infrastructure and drainage issues in Cahokia Heights this year. No newsroom was reporting extensively on how residents’ health has been affected by decades of exposure to sewage and flooding inside their homes.
Years after the initial, intense local and national media attention in Cahokia Heights, the BND has continued searching for the important stories no one else is telling.
We asked questions about the possible health effects and the government agencies responsible for handling serious public health threats like sewage. We published the results of our investigation in Hazardous Homes, a special report from the BND.
Among our findings: The East Side Health District and Illinois Department of Public Health failed to provide essential health services to affected residents. The local and state agencies didn’t investigate the possible health effects of chronic exposure to sewage and didn’t fully inform citizens of the risks they face.
We repeatedly asked for interviews with local and state public health officials, but they declined. We wanted to speak with them about what, if anything, they did for Cahokia Heights residents.
Officials would only respond in written statements to some of the BND’s emailed questions.
The reason we request in-person or phone interviews is because we can ask follow-up questions, especially if a subject is avoiding a direct answer, plus we can engage in deeper discussions with the context needed to ensure our reporting is accurate and precise. Emailed answers can make it easier for public officials or government agencies to evade a question.
In this project, local and state officials’ refusal to be interviewed in person or over the phone was a major impediment to our reporting. It slowed us down but didn’t stop us. We accepted their statements but also sent dozens of emails pressing officials to answer questions that would help readers understand why they hadn’t investigated the possible illnesses caused by sewage.
Our reporting included listening to the discussions that were happening in the community: a virtual town hall about residents’ health concerns, a question-and-answer session at the public library about the preliminary findings of a health study, and a city meeting about its infrastructure repair plans.
As we were reporting, we published exclusive breaking news about the health study, providing the first indication that the sewage might have made people sick.
We also interviewed about a dozen residents. We spent several days touring their neighborhoods and some of their houses. They pointed out the damage that water and sewage flooding into their homes had done over the years and described the health conditions they’re sure it caused.
We consulted medical and government resources about sewage and talked to professors. And we researched similar problems happening in Alabama, where the federal government ultimately stepped in and directed public health agencies to take action.
The BND’s Hazardous Homes also breaks news that one of the same federal agencies that investigated Alabama, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is now asking questions in Cahokia Heights.
Hazardous Homes isn’t the end of the BND’s coverage of the health issues in Cahokia Heights. We plan to continue our reporting, including asking public agencies and officials how they will respond to the findings of our investigation, tracking the plight of residents and the work of their advocates and holding local, state and federal governments accountable.
What else do you want to know about this issue? Send your questions, tips, story ideas or comments to investigative reporter Lexi Cortes at acortes@bnd.com or 618-239-2528.
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