Clean Water Act

Federal judge approves MSD consent decree

Rachel Lippmann — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:21:47 +0000

Updated at 5:45 with statement from the Attorney General's office.

Updated at 2:00 with comments from MSD, Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

A federal judge in Missouri has given her approval to a consent decree that requires the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District to make billions of dollars in improvements to settle Clean Water Act violations.

EPA releases new online tool for mapping water pollution

Alex King — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:01:15 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a new tool that allows the public to access information about pollutants that are released into local waterways.

The Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and lets users search for and map water pollution.

Inside the St. Louis sewer system, Part 2: paying to fix a messy problem

Maria Altman — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:35:03 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-993709.mp3

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has resolved a lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency with promises to fix its aging system.

But the consent decree, which still must be signed off on by a federal judge, comes with a huge price tag, an estimated $4.7 billion over 23 years.

In the second of a two-part series on the overhaul of the sewer district, St. Louis Public Radio’s Maria Altman explains MSD’s rate payers will be picking up the tab.

Inside the St. Louis sewer system, Part 1: fixing a messy problem

Véronique LaCapra — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:35:52 +0000

This summer, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District settled a four-year lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency over violations of the Clean Water Act.

Under the terms of the consent decree, MSD will spend the next 23 years upgrading the St. Louis area sewer system.

In the first of a two-part series on the sewer overhaul, St. Louis Public Radio’s Véronique LaCapra looks at the problems with our sewers—and what it’s going to take to fix them.

MSD holds hearings on possible rate increases

Rachel Lippmann — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:30:57 +0000

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is urging its customers to weigh in on a proposed rate increase that could push monthly sewer bills to $85 a month within 10 years.

"Without that input, we're going to be making some very important decisions on our own, and when you look at the cost, it really needs to be a community conversation," said agency spokesman Lance LeComb.