In an Aug. 5 consent decree signed with regulators and environmentalists, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has agreed to set a schedule for $4.7 billion of upgrades to its sewers and treatment plants over the next 23 years.
Under the pact, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) will be required to install a variety of pollution controls, including construction of three large storage tunnels from about two miles to nine miles in length, and expansion of capacity at two treatment plants. The settlement was signed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Missouri and the Missouri Coalition of the Environment Foundation. It is the result of a mediation process that began in 2008, says an MSD spokesman.