The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has been awarded $9.1 million in financial assistance through Missouri’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund to rehabilitate wastewater sewers and reduce overflows across its service area.
The package includes a $7.6 million loan and a $1.5 million grant.
MSD plans to repair and improve 18 miles of wastewater sewers across its service area, which includes communities in Chesterfield, Wildwood and Ellisville, according to Sean Stone, senior public affairs specialist for MSD Project Clear. The goal is to reduce sewer overflows by limiting the amount of stormwater and groundwater that enters the system. MSD expects the work to be finished by July 2029.
The funding structure is projected to save ratepayers about $1.5 million in principal and roughly $3.4 million in interest over the loan's 20-year term, according to DNR estimates. That adds up to about $4.9 million in total savings.
"MSD Project Clear is committed to taking advantage of every opportunity to save our customers money as we improve the public wastewater infrastructure in the St. Louis region," Stone said, according to a Fox 2 report via Yahoo News.
Jake Buxton, director of the Department of Natural Resources, said the investment supports the state's mission to protect natural resources for current and future generations.
The 18-mile rehabilitation project is the next infrastructure milestone for MSD ratepayers to track.
