Marseilles Elementary sues barge company for flood damage

The classrooms in Marseilles Elementary School are down to the studs as the building is being rehabbed after record-setting flooding in April.

The damage is expensive and though the school has insurance the district announced Monday they are suing Ingram Barge Company for $6.4 million. 

Superintendent JoEllen Fuller says the school’s decision to sue came from the school board and their insurance company.

Fuller says they feel the company was responsible for the seven barges that broke free while the Illinois River rose on April 18 and damaged the Marseilles dam.  The damage to the dam, they say, contributed to the flooding. Several homeowners are also suing the barge company.

Marseilles Elementary is scheduled to reopen on August 19.  Learn more about the school’s decision by listening to an interview available at the WLPO AM and FM news page.