VIDEO: Lawsuit Alleges Granite City Paved Over Its Own Sewers, Leading To August Floods
Date Posted: December 11, 2019
Posted In: News,
From Belleville News-Democrat: Another lawsuit has been filed in the wake of August’s flash floods in Granite City — this one aimed at the city itself.
The Metro East Sanitary District is suing Granite City in answer to a similar lawsuit filed by city taxpayers last week.
The suits stem from flash flooding in Granite City in August, which left some residents’ homes, businesses and cars damaged or destroyed after 9 ½ inches of rain fell over the city in a short period.
In its complaint, the sanitary district said photographs of Granite City infrastructure taken the day of the flood show that many of the city’s storm sewers have been paved over. In November, Adler said that results in localized flooding on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis.
The suit also states that the “majority” of flooding was related to the sanitary sewer system, owned by Granite City, which MESD alleges was already overwhelmed by discharging sump pumps.
Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit, but an official in his office said the city was not aware of the lawsuit.
A lawsuit filed in November by the Gori Law Firm accused MESD of negligence during the flooding. At the time, the MESD Executive Director Steve Adler said Granite City was to blame for the flooding.
MESD Board of Commissioners Charles Brinza called the lawsuit against MESD was a case of “misplaced accountability.”