In the News
Article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 25, 1999)Settlement Ends 12-Year Battle for Money to Cover Flood Damage*
By Roy Malone (Post-Dispatch)
It has taken more than 12 years, but 1,250 residents of East St. Louis will finally be splitting about $4 million for damages to their homes from flood waters and sewage in 1986.
Three defendants in the mammoth class-action case, including the city o f East St. Louis, have settled out of court. But the case is still many months away from being wrapped up.
When told she may not get any money until near the end of this year, Mineva Foley, 72, said: "I hope I live that long. I'm wondering if we'll ever get anything. It's taken too long. Everybody says that."
Foley, who lives at 1400 Trendley Avenue, had to pay $4,000 to get her damaged basement wall repaired.
She said her losses amounted to about $10,000, not counting any compensation for the stress she's been through. "That was a nightmare," she said of the raw sewage that drove her from her home.
The total amount of the settlements comes to $6.5 million, but the plaintiffs' lawyers will get a third.
The last defendant to settle was East St. Louis, which agreed last month to pay $1.5 million. A few months earlier the Metro East Sanitary District settled for $3.5 million. And before that, the Pfizer Co. settled for $1.5 million.
The three defendants were accused of contributing to the failure of gates at a pump station that allowed Mississippi River floodwater to enter sewer lines in the southwestern part of East St. Louis. In the settlements, the defendants denied any liability for the flooding.
Two hearings must be held in circuit court in Belleville to complete the agreement between the plaintiffs and the city of East St. Louis. The money is being placed in escrow accounts.
Charles J. Kolker, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said the claims have to be adjusted to determine how much will be paid to each of the plaintiffs. "We can't distribute until the court says we can," he said.
Kolker was the first lawyer to file a suit, a few months after the flooding. Other suits were combined and became a class-action suit. Kolker said the case has taken one-third of his legal career. His witness list included 5,000 people, including victims, family members, repair people and experts. Depositions were taken from 450 people.
"If it had gone to trial it would have taken four and half years," he said. "It affected many lives. Many people gave up on it. They told me I was crazy. Others stayed in and some helped with costs, contributing about $50. Mostly, I bore the cost myself."
It was a gamble, as Kolker would not get his contingency fee unless the plaintiffs got their money. The Lakin law firm of Wood River came in last year and helped with depositions and negotiations.
The flooding occurred when the Mississippi went over flood stage on the morning of Oct. 4, 1986. A levee protects the Illinois side and drainage tunnels run under it to allow treated wastewater to enter the river. Flood protection gates in one tunnel failed and millions of gallons of river water shot though the city's sewer lines and into homes.
In the suit, the Metro East Sanitary District was accused of failing to maintain its pumping station, north of Sauget and west of Illinois Route 3. The facility had three gates to impede the flow of river water into the sewage system. One, a shutter gate, had been removed for repairs a month earlier. An 18-ton steel emergency gate was mysteriously missing, and a diversion gate, damaged by corrosion, was blown out by the force of the water.
East St. Louis was accused of failing to maintain its nearby water treatment plant, which allowed untreated waste water into the pumping station. And the Pfizer Co. was accused of allowing corrosive chemicals from its paint pigment plant into the sewer system.
Foley will never forget the sunny morning when the flood hit. Water blew out of manholes in the streets, rising higher than housetops. Manhole covers that had been welded in place were lifted into the air.
"It kept coming. Water was in the basements. Water was in people's houses. . . . I found human feces in my basement," Foley said.
Boats were sent in to rescue people. She lost appliances, food, clothing and a car. At the time she lived at 604 South 14th Street. It's next to her current home, where her ailing mother also lives.
Foley is angry because city officials spent so long contesting claims of the victims.
"It has to do with politics . . . none of them will be getting my vote," she said of the city council members.
"Kolker stood by us," Foley said.
James F. Clayborne Jr., one of the city's lawyers, said the settlement was "favorable to the city and the residents."
He said certifying the class of plaintiffs and settling legal questions caused the litigation to drag on.