* Post-Dispatch last year…

In Lincoln and Hazel LeFlore’s front yard, near the street, is what appears to be a fountain, poking out of the ground. It flows continuously, carving a trench that runs alongside their home and into the woods out back.

Look closer, though, and take a breath — and it’s clear this is no fountain, but rather an open pipe that leads to a sewer. Pressure popped the cap off years ago, allowing raw sewage to flow to the surface. The LeFlores said if they tried closing it, the wastewater would instead pour from their toilets, bathtubs and sinks. The same would happen at their neighbors’ homes.

For 15 years, sewage has been flowing in their yard, the couple says, despite their frequent complaints to local utility and city officials. They can’t sit outside. They can’t enjoy visits from family and friends. […]

Their situation is similar to that of dozens of residents of this town, which was ranked last year as the poorest in the United States, based on census data. Just 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis, Centreville was incorporated in 1957. In 1960 — when the area was full of steel, railroading, meatpacking and other industrial jobs — the city had nearly 12,800 people, 28% of whom were white.

Over the years, as factories closed and jobs left, white families moved away. Centreville is now home to about 5,000 residents; over 95% are African American. The median home value is $47,900. The main businesses are the few strip clubs and questionable massage parlors on the southeast edge of town. […]

In parts of the city, dirt trenches are used to drain runoff instead of storm drains. The trenches, however, have not been maintained. Clogged culverts under driveways prevent water from moving. The trenches fill with standing water, trash and swirls of colors, surrounding homes like moats, and breeding mosquitoes.

A system of above-ground pumps moves wastewater through the sewer system, but the motors often don’t work because they are overtaken by stormwater or overwhelmed by clogged lines. Some are cracked and covered in tarps after being struck by cars.

Wastewater bubbles out of manholes and into the streets, mixing with runoff. Many residents can’t flush their toilets and have to resort to using public restrooms.

* Post-Dispatch last August…

In a letter sent Wednesday to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, a group of residents pleaded for the state government to enforce environmental laws and require repairs to the city’s failing wastewater and stormwater systems. […]

Residents have complained about sewage overflows, failing pump stations and leaking manholes for two decades. The letter accuses the state of not doing enough to hold local government agencies accountable.

The IEPA has been aware of the hazards since 2003, the letter states, yet little has been to done to require repairs. One couple has had an open sewer line continually flowing like a fountain in their front yard since 2007 or 2008.

* GovTech this week…

With the support of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who called the situation “a textbook example of environmental racism,” Centreville, Cahokia and Alorton hope to share $22 million through a FEMA BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) grant.

The grant will supply funds to repair and maintain sewage systems in the area that have long been neglected. Residents have, for decades, routinely experienced yards and houses flooded with sewage, with little or no help from officials. Residents filed a lawsuit last summer seeking help with the sewage and flooding issues. […]

Whether the cities are granted the money won’t be known until December.

We’ve got a multi-billion-dollar capital program right here in Illinois. Why isn’t the state spending some of that money? Also, while the grant will be great, the IEPA obviously needs to step up enforcement. Perhaps the governor can address this, too.

* Turns out, some local elected officials are also making money off the sewer district…

A state senator from Centreville made nearly $58,500 last year for a position that doesn’t have a job description at a controversial water and sewer district.

Democratic state Sen. Christopher Belt is listed as superintendent of Commonfields of Cahokia Public Water and Sewage District in 2020 documents. He did not respond to the BND’s 12 phone calls, text messages and emails over more than a week requesting information about what he does there.

General manager Dennis Traiteur and district board chairman Curtis McCall Sr. both declined to talk about Belt’s role, citing a pending citizen lawsuit against Commonfields over years of flooding issues. Mark Scoggins, the Columbia attorney representing the district, did not immediately know about Belt’s role but confirmed he works there. […]

Belt is McCall’s brother-in-law. […] McCall is Centreville Township supervisor and is expected to become the first mayor of Cahokia Heights, a new city that will be established by the consolidation of Cahokia, Centreville and Alorton after the April 6 elections. McCall is unopposed.

McCall’s son, Curtis McCall Jr., is the current mayor of Cahokia. Commonfields paid McCall Sr.’s other son, Kerchavian McCall, $27,439 as a laborer who did maintenance and operated equipment for 752 hours, according to 2020 salary documents the BND obtained through the open records request.

[Alorton Mayor Jo Ann Reed] was on the Commonfields payroll as a cashier, clerk and board secretary, earning nearly $29,400 in 2020 for 830 hours.

McCall also chairs Sen. Belt’s campaign committee. Kelsey Landis, Deasia Paige and Kavahn Mansouri wrote that story for the Belleville News-Democrat. Really good stuff. Goes well beyond the usual “Somebody contributed $50 and that means corruption” crud that passes for muckraking.

Local voters have a chance to dissolve Commonfields next month. I’ll let you know what happens.