UPDATE ON ROBBINS WATER SITUATION
BY TIA CAROL JONES
The Village of Robbins is experiencing complications with their
water due to a crumbling water infrastructure. On Thanksgiving Day, a quarter of the town experienced little to no water.
From 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving, the whole town didn’t have water. Since Thanksgiving, Robbins has
experienced two more water main breaks.
“This is an issue we’re seeing in Dixmoor, this is an issue we’re seeing in a lot of Black communities across the nation, with Flint and Jackson, with crumbling water infrastructure,” said Village of Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant.
The water is currently back on, while there is an area of town that is experiencing below normal water pressure. The Village is trying to find out why that is happening.
In August, the Village of Robbins received $20 million from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for green water infrastructure, to address flood mitigation.
The issue Robbins experienced on Thanksgiving has more to do with pipes and a water infrastructure that is more than 50 years old. According to Bryant, while there has been some patch work done here and there, some parts of the Village still have the same piping it did when the Village was incorporated in 1917.
Bryant has been in contact with Village of Dixmoor Mayor Fitzgerald Roberts. In 2021, Dixmoor was without water from Oct. 16th to Nov. 3rd due to a leak that disabled the system from filling the water storage tank. In April, Dixmoor was presented with $2 million for a new water main project. As recently as July, there were two water main breaks and a 12-inch water pipe that burst.
Bryant acknowledged that Congressman Bobby Rush has been an advocate for the District. On Wednesday, Dec. 14th, Rush has arranged a roundtable meeting with senior State and Federal officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“It is totally unacceptable that Southland suburban families have been repeatedly left without water, especially on this Thanksgiving Day. This is a serious issue that has long plagued these communities. That is why I have arranged to convene a roundtable meeting with senior State and Federal officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA),” Rush said in a released statement.
Bryant hopes that meeting will lead to solutions and a pathway to getting the water infrastructure in the Village fixed.
Bryant has been in contact with members who represent Robbins in the Illinois State Legislature, Deputy Governor
Andy Manar. Bryant is calling on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. He is looking for a 100% forgivable grant to relieve communities struggling with water infrastructure
issues.
Bryant believes it will take $40 million to fix Robbin’s water infrastructure.
The Village of Robbins owes the City of Chicago $16
million in water debt, which has accumulated through decades. Bryant believes that water is leaking underground and the Village is losing millions of dollars underground. He is calling on Mayor Lightfoot for assistance.
Bryant would like to see an initiative created, specifically
for water. He also would like for the IEPA and EPA to
consider the economic viability of a town when it observes
and inspects communities.
“We don’t willingly neglect the water system, we don’t have money or finances to make it happen,” Bryant said. “This is not just a Robbins issue, I’m really speaking on behalf of all the Black communities, minority communities and poor communities that have been neglected when it comes to infrastructure throughout time.”
