March 26, 2009
Thursday Headlines: St. Louis Proposes $2 Billion Sewer System Upgrade
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the nation’s fourth largest sewer system, has proposed a $2 billion sewer improvement project to last several decades aimed at correcting the city’s sewer overflow problem. It’s the largest public infrastructure improvement in the region’s history. Customers would pay for most of the improvements through increased sewer rates.
Headlines
In California, arguments between urban and rural water districts may slow down how fast the $280 million in wastewater infrastructure from the economic stimulus can be used for projects. At the heart of the argument, urban lawmakers have taken exception with guidelines for projects that they believe benefit poor rural areas but keep poor areas of large cities from getting any funding. The state legislature is working on amending the rules to allow urban water districts to apply for grant funding that rural water districts are already eligible to receive.
State and local officials in Vermont are trying to figure out which communities will benefit from millions in federal stimulus money for drinking water and sewer projects.
A 20-inch sewer line in a Tampa, Florida neighborhood has broken for the third time since September. City officials say they won’t know how much sewage flowed into a nearby creek until tests are completed.
Fort Madison, Iowa, a small city in the southeastern part of the state, has reached an agreement with the EPA to implement a plan addressing combined sewer overflows into the Mississippi River.
Sewer Rate News
Del Mar, California
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Waukee, Iowa
