Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the entry of an agreed consent decree to resolve a lawsuit his office filed with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to address chronic failures of the sanitary sewer systems in Cahokia Heights.

Raoul and the DOJ filed the lawsuit in 2024 claiming that since November 2019, aging infrastructure and years of poor maintenance and neglect led to more than 300 occasions of sanitary sewage being discharged to nearby waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act. As a result, the consent decree ensures the city of Cahokia Heights to take multiple actions to comply with the Clean Water Act, Illinois Environmental Protection Act and its state wastewater collection system operating permit.

“Cahokia Heights residents have dealt with raw sewage in their basements, in their streets and in local waterways for far too long, and this consent decree requires the city to deliver much-needed relief,” Raoul said. “I am proud of my office’s collaboration with federal and local and state entities to find a solution for the neglected and aging sewer systems that caused a real environmental and public health threat. I will continue to partner with all levels of government to enforce Illinois’ environmental laws and protect our communities.”

Raoul’s lawsuit alleged the city of Cahokia Heights violated federal and state environmental protection laws by failing to address sanitary sewer overflows. The consent decree requires Cahokia Heights to perform extensive repairs and maintenance to its sewer system, including by installing an interceptor to separate Cahokia Heights’ sewer system from the neighboring East St. Louis sewer system, conducting regular cleaning and testing, and performing ongoing emergency response. The decree also contains a program that requires the city to repair the private sewer laterals of eligible residents to reduce inflow and infiltration into the city’s sewer system. While the work will be completed over the next several years, the city has already begun improvements that have reduced sanitary sewer overflows.

Compliance includes employing four full-time staff members with valid voluntary collection system operator certifications from the IEPA; establishing a sewer condition rehabilitation plan; establishing assessment and monitoring programs; and immediately implementing a capacity, management, operations and maintenance program to establish written procedures to be updated annually and submitted to the IEPA and the United States EPA for review.

Raoul said the decree also requires Cahokia Heights to develop a plan within the next four months to inform the public on how sewer system improvements will be addressed. This will include an annually published schedule of at least two public meetings a year and provide notices of sewer emergencies, sewer repairs and storm or sewer infrastructure improvements. Additionally, the city will publish a plan for eligible residents’ sewer lateral repair, prioritizing work for households with documented medical concerns and expenses, residents over the age of 65 and low-income residents.

Cahokia Heights is in a floodplain with a high groundwater table, requiring sewer operators to be vigilant in maintaining pipes to prevent water infiltration and inflow into the system.

This lawsuit is part of Attorney General Raoul’s work to hold entities accountable for environmental violations in environmental justice communities. Attorney General Raoul’s Environmental Enforcement Division, which enforces civil environmental laws, has recovered millions of dollars from polluters and required companies to undertake environmental improvement projects in communities impacted by pollution. Raoul encourages residents to report environmental justice and other environmental concerns to his office by emailing ej@ilag.gov.

Bureau Chief Rachel Medina, Deputy Bureau Chief Christina Briggs and Assistant Attorney Caitlin Kelly handled the case for Raoul’s Environmental Bureau.