need the infrastructure there, and in herminie, it's just not there. narrator: to address community frustrations, sewickley township, home of herminie, created a sewer authority board in 1998. it's comprised of residents and business owners who worked for almost a decade to get sewage infrastructure for the area. miller: we were novices. i don't think anybody in the township knew where to go. and we were frustrated at times. we thought we were right on the cusp of getting funding, and then, something happened and we didn't get it. yeah, we could go out and float a loan, and probably people would be looking at maybe $100 a month in sewage bills. so what you have to try to do is get enough funding to keep sewage rates at a reasonable rate so people can afford them. and that's been a real problem. without grant money, it can't be done. mcmillen: they were in line, waiting for our money. they had an application on my desk. but when someone has no funding, usually they sit and wait. the problem is, the amount of money given in the federal budget and the sta

need the infrastructure there, and in herminie, it's just not there. narrator: to address community frustrations, sewickley township, home of herminie, created a sewer authority board in 1998. it's comprised of residents and business owners who worked for almost a decade to get sewage infrastructure for the area. miller: we were novices. i don't think anybody in the township knew where to go. and we were frustrated at times.

i anticipate a definite regrowth in herminie, and it will be a good thing for everybody. zdravecky: maybe it won't help me too much because i'm an old lady, but whoever comes along after me will get the benefit. schwartz: there's nothing isolated about the herminie situation. it's a very common problem. it's a town that was built before current standards. this is not backwoods rural america at all. it's just an unfortunate situation that was created probably a hundred years ago or more. and the people have to pay for it in a big way now. because the government is choosing to spend its money elsewhere right now, there's very limited money for communities to install adequate drinking water and wastewater, and i think it's criminal. that's my feeling. this country has to get its priorities right, and they're wrong right now. narrator: herminie faces problems because of the way its residents laid out the town generations earlier. across the country, many other cities and towns deal with the unexpected consequences from their early infrastructure design. los angeles county is

when you come into town in the summer, you know you're coming to herminie. woman: the aroma in 90-degree days... can sometimes just want to knock you over. woman: we have water. we have power, we have gas, but we have no sewage. i guess when they laid out the town years ago, it just all went into the pipes and straight into the "crick." sabljak: i've lived here 43 years in the same house. when i moved here, they told us that sewage would be here shortly. and here it is 43 years later and we still don't have it. my husband and i went to the first meeting. he always said, "boy, i'll never see it in my lifetime." well... my husband passed away last december. man: right now, the wastewater in herminie is going to basically three places -- in the street, down mine shafts, or into the creeks. i think we're very lucky that we haven't had some kind of serious health problem. sabljak: i came up one morning to get my newspaper, and there was this pool of stench up here. there was a pipe spouting, like a fountain, with everything coming out. everything was on the road