When a community loses the trust it has in its own water supply-or in its administrators-the next thing to come out of the tap is not only contamination, but indignation. And in Alexandria, Indiana, both are surging at once.

For months, residents have sounded the alarm. It was only a matter of time before the complains of stench in the water and sewage in the backyards by the locals in the area would culminate into a full-blown public health crisis and a crisis of governance. 

The Meeting That Muted a Town

On July 7, 2025, members of the community streamed into Alexandria City Hall ready to ask questions and give out lab results. Officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) were present, ready to address rising fears about contamination in Alexandria Indiana water — fears supported by independent tests and at least one hospitalization of a child exposed to suspected E. coli.

But the public never got their answers. Councilman Jeremy VanErman made a motion that shocked the assembly before the debate could even start, water and sewer matters were removed. No questions. No explanations. No debate.

This was not the slightest disappointing thing to a town that already had raw sewage in neighborhoods, but devastating.

Rot beneath the Surface

Water system in the town was also failing, and another quiet scandal was brewing, the $10 million Washington Street road reconstruction project. And the cost breakdown at a little more than half a mile length has raised more questions than answers have been thrown up by the paving.

According to INDOT this costs them officially a price of 5.25 million dollars. Even Councilman VanErman himself subsequently said that it could have come up to around 10 million dollars — none of that was coming out of the public record. Local critic James Peters had prepared a list of overlapping engineering invoices and inspection fees on a number of sewer, stormwater and roadwork improvement accounts. 

Citizens are asking themselves whether this is a case of incompetence or something worse…….. 

VanErman has defended the spending, citing industry standards. The same as when their voices were dispatched into silence at City Hall, residents find that the pattern remains the same as the project continues to linger without receipts ever appearing. 

Alexandria’s Demands Are Simple

The people are no longer satisfied with being given answers, they want to be told them 

·       Independent water testing across affected areas.

·       A forensic audit of the Washington Street project.

·       A public hearing which does not muzzle state environmental professionals and elected officials

The complete explanation by Jeremy VanErman on why the most important and burning crisis in Alexandria was censored.

What’s at Stake Isn’t Just Infrastructure — it’s Integrity

It is not only about E. coli or a deteriorated street. It is about a more basic rot: the erosion of the transparency, accountability and democratic discourse. It is the act when a town was told not to speak and this is when the water turns brown and the roads collapse.

In Alexandria, the most dangerous leaks aren’t underground. They’re in city leadership. As long as the residents are not listened to, the silence will simply deafen more and more.