St. Clair County discriminated against community in COVID relief spending, residents say
A group of residents is asking the federal government to investigate why St. Clair County spent nearly all of its COVID-related relief funds in largely white communities while the predominantly Black, low-income city of Cahokia Heights faces an ongoing health crisis with floodwater and sewage spilling into homes.
The group Centreville Citizens for Change filed a civil rights complaint in late November with the Treasury Department, which oversees the relief funding from the American Rescue Plan.
The complaint raises questions about spending on projects like purchasing and renovating the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds and building a new animal control facility while infrastructure in Cahokia Heights is failing and residents have health concerns because of their exposure to sewage. It accuses the county of discriminating against Black residents.
“One struggles to discern what valid important interests were served by the decision to fund significantly less urgent projects than the remediation of basic water and sewage systems,” the complaint states.
St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern declined to comment Wednesday because the county hadn’t received any information about the complaint.
The Treasury Department hasn’t yet reached out to the county, according to the chairman’s secretary. A Treasury spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about the status of the complaint.
The only relief funding St. Clair County allocated to Cahokia Heights was for a water tower renovation, according to the complaint. It cites the quarterly reports from the county to the Treasury Department, which the BND reviewed.
Kern didn’t respond to a BND question about why the county didn’t allocate more of the money to Cahokia Heights or a request to provide any context for the allocations.
Health concerns in Cahokia Heights
For decades, sewage has backed up in toilets, sinks and bathtubs in residents’ homes, particularly in the northern area of the former city of Centreville, now part of Cahokia Heights. When it rains, sewers overflow on the streets and spill into homes.
The issues have received extensive local and national media attention over the last three years.
Since then, over $30 million in local, state and federal money has been allocated to help Cahokia Heights fix the problems, but the complaint states that doesn’t come close to covering the total estimated costs. Officials estimate it will take years to complete the work.
Meanwhile, residents believe their health is affected by the floodwater and sewage that repeatedly enters their homes. It brings the threat of mold, as well as bacteria, parasites and viruses from human waste into basements, living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms.
An ongoing health study in Cahokia Heights found more than 40% of adults out of an initial sample of 42 last year had the same bacterial infection. Residents told the BND in interviews that stomach, respiratory and heart conditions are common among their neighbors.
Raw sewage, lawsuits and millions in federal funding: A timeline of issues in Cahokia Heights
U.S. senators from Illinois have described the situation as an urgent public health crisis.
A special report from the BND this year examined public health agencies’ response to the crisis. The East Side Health District and Illinois Department of Public Health have failed to provide essential health services to affected residents, the BND investigation found. 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.
New complaint calls for action
Centreville Citizens for Change and individual group members previously filed two federal lawsuits against local government agencies and officials, calling on them to fix the problems and compensate residents for property damage. Jury trials in those civil cases are scheduled to begin next year.
Their new complaint with the Treasury Department includes St. Clair County for the first time. It seeks the following action from Treasury leaders, following an investigation:
Demand the return of funding already spent and the remittance of funding allocated but not yet disbursed.
Require that the recovered funds be used by the county to construct complete and functional systems for stormwater and wastewater drainage, treatment of drinking water and raw sewage, and repair the harm to residents.
Appoint someone to direct the expenditures of remaining and returned funds in consultation and partnership with the residents of Cahokia Heights.
The Civil Rights and Racial Justice Clinic at New York University School of Law assisted Centreville Citizens for Change with the civil rights complaint, along with residents’ lawyers Nicole Nelson and Kalila Jackson. An NYU law student provided a copy of the complaint to the BND on Wednesday.
