STREATOR - Someone decided a century ago it was a good idea to have homes dump their wastewater directly into the honeycomb of mines beneath Streator, and every so often that decision - and the sewage - comes back to haunt area residents.

About 20 homes just east of Streator city limits, in Otter Creek Township, had sewage in their basements Thursday. This week's heavy rains caused the contents of the sewage-laden, abandoned mines to back up into homes whose drains go directly into them.

"I would like to talk to the guy who decided to dump into those mines," Streator Public Works Director Dave Fussell said.

The city of Streator has invested years of work and millions of dollars fixing the problem by connecting homes within city limits to a sewer system, but problem areas remain in some areas.

Keeping kids away

Otter Creek Township resident Shaunna Kruger who has three small children, said she has her hands full monitoring the pump emptying her basement and keeping her children away from the sewage.

"They want to play in it," she said. "They don't understand what it is."

She said she and her neighbors agree that this is the worst backup they have seen in several years.

The area at the east end of Otter Creek Road still has standing water "with no place for it to go," Fussell said.

He said he has been out there, offering whatever assistance he could.

Otter Creek Township Road Commissioner Ed Bedeker said Thursday if further rains hold off, the water will drain and the subdivision will return to normal.

"When you have a 6x-inch frost, the water has to go somewhere," Bedeker said. "It's not an isolated problem, but we've had it the worst."