Cahokia Heights

Cahokia Heights residents are being exposed to bacteria and parasites possibly spreading because of chronic sewage backups and flooding in their community, preliminary findings from an ongoing health study showed.

In August 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Cahokia Height’s two water providers — Illinois American and the city — to monitor the drinking water after the federal agency found “violations and significant deficiencies.”

Gulfstream is adding positions for aircraft technicians, installers and supervisors at St. Louis Downtown Airport as part of a tax credit agreement with the state.

The cash will funnel through the Army Corps of Engineers to the city. In all, the project to help repair the city’s main trunk line will cost $4.67 million.

Residents have dealt with sewage flooding their homes and neighborhoods after heavy rains for years. With a new grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Cahokia Heights plans to complete repairs in February 2026.

La’Tatia Stewart, 56, of Cahokia Heights, was found dead on Wednesday. She'd become well known in St. Louis after her son was shot and killed in 2020.

The mayors and the director of the Metro East Sanitary District said other, wealthier St. Clair County communities should help pay for a key drainage ditch’s maintenance.

While there is a Schnucks and Aldi on the same road, Walmart’s closure in the lower-income community will limit options for residents, experts say.

Cahokia Heights, long plagued with a faulty sewer system, will receive a grant from the Illinois EPA.

Raw sewage backups and chronic flooding have been a decades-long issue in Centreville, now Cahokia Heights. Residents previously filed two federal lawsuits over these issues in 2020 and 2021.