Heavy rains, outdated equipment, and growing populations - these are just some of the causes behind sanitary sewer overflows in southern Illinois.
Janelle O'Dea is an investigative journalist with the Illinois answers Project who has written two articles about communities in the Metro East and southern Illinois dealing with this problem.
In her first story, O'Dea reported on the residents of Cahokia Heights facing sewage in their back yard and backing up into basements and toilets.
In her second story O'Dea reports on the other communities in southern Illinois dealing with this issue. Her story took her to Carterville where she met Aaron Jones. I talked with O'Dea about Jones and the challenge facing Carterville in trying to fix the problem.
Janelle O'Dea's stories on Illinois Answers Project
