Gov. J.B. Pritzker supported a $22 million federal grant that local officials say will solve the lingering sewage and flooding issues in the north Centreville neighborhoods.
“The persistent flooding and sewage residents have experienced are entirely unacceptable, especially in a pandemic when [a] home has never been more sacred,” Pritzker said, the Belleville News-Democrat reported in March. “Make no mistake; we are going to get the Centreville sewage project funded. My Illinois Emergency Management Agency has already submitted a $22 million grant request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that prioritizes funding and fixes the situation that has been allowed to fester too long in this community.”
In a recent visit to the neighborhood, the governor blasted the problems as “a textbook example of environmental racism.”
Neighborhood residents are welcoming all the help they can get, including U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) recently pledging her support for the grant.
“I’ll use every tool at my disposal as governor, with my Department of Natural Resources director, in working together to advocate for necessary federal support as well as the other agency leaders from the Illinois EPA,” Pritzker said. “While this project requires robust federal funding, as local leaders have made clear, we are committed to supplementing the effort with available state resources.”
Alerts Sign-up