Poor communities in the United States that rely on aging wastewater infrastructure are facing renewed pressure as federal funding aimed at upgrades has been canceled or targeted for elimination under President Donald Trump’s administration, the Associated Press reported, with advocates warning the impact falls hardest on long-overlooked minority neighborhoods.
The AP reporting centers on Cahokia Heights, a mostly Black city near St. Louis where residents described recurring flooding and sewage backups that follow heavy rain. Yvette Lyles, who moved into the community with a family-centered plan for her brick ranch home, said floods had sent untreated sewage into streets, yards and homes—damaging property and trapping families inside for days during at least one incident. She said, “I had to turn my back so my children wouldn’t see me cry.”
AP described sewage exposure as a public-health risk, noting it can enter homes when waste backs up through plumbing or when sewer systems are overwhelmed by rain and floodwaters. In Cahokia Heights, the conditions have also contributed to standing water, mosquitoes and high grass, according to residents. Patricia Johnson described the situation as worsening over the years, saying, “It is just bad,” and adding, “I am just sad because I have never experienced water being such a problem as it is out here.”
Cahokia Heights has faced federal oversight, AP said. A 2024 settlement with the U.S. Justice Department requires the city to invest an estimated $30 million in upgrades. Officials told a court they have worked to divert floodwater and make repairs, and records show the city has spent or sought at least $41 million in state and federal funds toward improvements, while the city said finding money has become more difficult under Trump.
The AP report said the city had also been relying on federal support that has been slowed or uncertain. That includes hoped-for funding from a Federal Emergency Management Agency infrastructure program; AP said a federal judge recently ruled the program was unlawfully ended by the Trump administration. AP also said the city lost $1.1 million that the House appropriated for a sewer project last year, and that the Trump administration later said the FEMA program was under review.
The AP said Trump’s administration also moved to eliminate the EPA’s Environmental Justice office, as part of what it described as a broader effort against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The reporting said that administration also canceled or targeted for elimination grants for hundreds of projects in underserved communities, including $14 million for septic systems in majority-Black counties in Alabama and a $20 million EPA grant in Thomasville, Georgia, where AP said the canceled funds were almost half of a project to address aging sewer lines in historically Black neighborhoods. In a written statement to AP, the EPA said the work did not align with administration priorities.
Advocates said the characterization of the grants as DEI priorities obscures what they described as a severe infrastructure and health problem. Catherine Coleman Flowers, who founded the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and helped document conditions in Lowndes County, Alabama, said, “The mischaracterization of it as DEI really masks how severe this problem is in the United States,” and added, “It’s an infrastructure issue,” describing it as also “health and dignity.”
AP also reported on the broader scale of the issue. The report said that at least 17 million Americans are served by roughly 1,000 wastewater systems nationwide that are in serious violation of federal pollution limits when they discharge to local waterways, and that at least 2.7 million are served by the most troubled systems concentrated in rural areas with repeated violations. It also said flooding and water-quality needs over the next two decades have ballooned to at least $630 billion, based on federal data reviewed by AP.
In Alabama, Sherry Bradley, executive director of the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program, described trying to adjust language in grant materials as Trump began cutting grants, including removing references to “environmental justice,” “poverty,” “African American,” “climate change,” “disadvantaged” and “Gulf of Mexico.” She told AP that her group’s grant was canceled anyway, leaving residents dependent on existing pipes that carry sewage to ravines, ditches and yards. Bradley said hundreds of residents had asked for help and described the emotional toll of delays, saying, “When I look at their faces, I see that they’ve lost hope and that’s not a good feeling,” and concluding, “We are the forgotten ones.”
AP said some financing routes still exist, including EPA funding announced in November through a loan program for wastewater and drinking water projects, along with a smaller USDA program. But experts and advocates told AP that the poorest communities may have difficulty competing for money because they lack staff, engineering expertise and experience completing the extensive applications required. They also pointed to reductions in support centers that help communities navigate technical requirements—describing a challenge in building capacity even where federal programs remain available.
The Associated Press reported that progress on wastewater upgrades has been uneven even where settlements, prior grant streams and COVID-era spending have helped. In the case of Shaw, Mississippi, AP cited a 2023 study finding high rates of infection and intestinal inflammation in tested children after sewage-related conditions; the report also said American Rescue Plan Act funding would make some upgrades in Shaw, but that far more work is needed for the city, which AP described as having fewer than 1,500 residents. State Rep. Otis Anthony told AP, “You have abject poverty.”