How WashU scientists are helping a Metro East town battle a public health crisis
An interdisciplinary team of WashU researchers are using anthropology, microbiology, hydrology, data science, and environmental engineering to address the health impacts of chronic flooding in Cahokia Heights, Illinois
Cornelius Bennett’s home in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, should have been a great place for him to enjoy a quiet retirement. He lives in a leafy, low-lying neighborhood just north of Highway 157 and east of Grand Marais Lake. The houses here are widely spaced, but he can still hear his neighbor’s chickens clucking from his front porch. He set up a swing set in his side yard, but there are plenty of days when he won’t let his grandchildren go outside to play.
Bennett’s house and yard get swamped with a toxic mixture of rainwater and raw sewage after just a mild rain. The aging sewer system is easily overwhelmed, and wastewater escapes pipes and gutters to invade homes and neighborhoods. “Sewage water goes straight into the ditch right next to my house,” Bennett said. “I’ve got raw sewage in my backyard. It’s happening all over the neighborhood.”
Bennett, a plaintiff in a 2020 lawsuit against the city, is not alone in his troubles, and he’s not alone in his fight to make Cahokia Heights a cleaner, healthier place to live. Less than 20 miles away on the other side of the Mississippi, a team of WashU researchers — including anthropologist Theresa Gildner; biologist Liz Mallott; geoscientist Claire Masteller; and engineer Fangqiong Ling — is working to document and explain the public health disaster unfolding in the Metro East area.
In 2023, Gildner, Mallott, and Masteller received a seed grant from Arts & Sciences’ Transdisciplinary Institute in Applied Data Sciences to study the intertwined threats of floods and communicable diseases in Cahokia Heights. The team noted that already recurring flooding will likely become more common in other small communities as the climate changes. Cahokia Heights isn’t just a town in crisis; it’s a warning for other places with subpar sewage and drainage systems.
Their work is already having a positive impact, thanks to collaboration and support from Equity Legal Services, a local non-profit legal service that represents many of the community members impacted by flooding, and Centreville Citizens for Change, a community nonprofit that has been advocating for changes to the city’s infrastructure through litigation and letters to elected officials since 2018. The findings from Gildner and her team helped inspire local and state governments to allocate $30 million on upgrades to the sewer systems. “The WashU team has really built a partnership with us,” said Nicole Nelson, an attorney with Equity Legal Services. “They’ve been lifesavers.”
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