The 2025 budget will be revisited at next month’s MSD board meeting, when it is slated for final reading. Despite its formal introduction before the board on Thursday, details about the budget have been available since March, when a preliminary overview of next year’s targeted expenses was released.
MSD Project Clear (MSDPC) is responding to a force main break in Maryland Heights. The break was discovered late Wednesday morning near Creve Coeur Mill Road and Highway 141. MSDPC crews have isolated the break and contained the overflow to a small, wooded area.
Once storms pass through and working conditions are safe, MSDPC will use vacuum trucks and pumps to get any remaining wastewater back into the system. That process is expected to take a couple of days. Sewer service will not be affected, and repairs will be done once the cleanup is complete.
Warning signs have been posted in the area, advising the public of the overflow. While there is no immediate threat to public health or safety, everyone should avoid wastewater. Anyone who comes in direct physical contact with wastewater should immediately and thoroughly wash with soap and water.
A force main is a sewer line that uses pumps to transport wastewater. Pumps and force mains are necessary when gravity alone is not enough to move wastewater through flat areas or over hills to a wastewater treatment plant.
MSDPC has reported the incident to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Visit KnowYourZone.org and see what zone you are in and then find out what the best flood insurance will be for you.
The issue began when a city-owned abandoned house collapsed, damaging the sewer system and causing part of the alley to collapse. This incident has left residents struggling with an inconvenient and unsanitary situation.
As of Tuesday afternoon, crews began cleanup with vacuum trucks and other pumps to get the wastewater back into the system, which would take a couple of days to complete. The district said sewer service in the area would not be affected.
MSD Project Clear (MSDPC) is cleaning up after a force main break in Maryland Heights. The break was discovered Tuesday morning by MSDPC staff at one of the District’s pump stations. Crews were able to quickly isolate the break, stop the overflow, and contain it to a small wooded area near Creve Coeur Mill Road and Highway 141.
Efforts are now focused on cleanup, with MSDPC using vacuum trucks and pumps to get all wastewater back into the system. That’s expected to take a couple of days. Sewer service will not be affected.
Warning signs have been posted in the area, advising the public of the overflow. While there is no immediate threat to public health or safety, everyone should avoid wastewater. Anyone who comes in direct physical contact with wastewater should immediately and thoroughly wash with soap and water.
A force main is a sewer line that uses pumps to transport wastewater. Pumps and force mains are necessary when gravity alone is not enough to move wastewater through flat areas or over hills to a wastewater treatment plant.
MSDPC has reported the incident to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
To qualify for the program, the customer has to make less than two times the federal poverty limit and those who are 62 years old or older must make less than two and a half times less than the federal poverty limit.
Floods are the most common and most costly form of natural disaster in the United States. As spring rains approach, MSD Project Clear (MSDPC) is reminding residents across the region to understand their flood risks and learn how to protect themselves with Know Your Zone.
“If it rains where you live, it can flood where you live,” MSDPC Executive Director and CEO Brian Hoelscher said. “Excessive rain in a short time can overwhelm creeks, streams, and constructed stormwater systems causing overland flooding, even in areas with no nearby waterways. We have seen this problem accelerate in recent years, as the St. Louis region has experienced more intense, more frequent storms fueled by climate change.”
The average flood damage claim for homeowners and renters is more than $35,000. Flood insurance is required in high-risk flood zones, but outside these areas, few properties have flood insurance protection as part of homeowners or rental policies. The vast majority of properties in the St. Louis region lay outside high-risk flood zones and therefore may not have flood insurance.
St. Louis residents can go to KnowYourZone.org to better understand the risk where they live, learn about how to purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other resources.
Hoelscher noted that the recent passage of Proposition S will enable MSDPC to begin addressing thousands of flooding and erosion problems throughout the region, but it can’t correct every type of flooding people may face.
“Although the new stormwater funding will make a significant difference, it is only part of the solution. Moreover, the new funding will take many years to address the backlog of flooding and erosion problems we already know about,” Hoelscher said. “Flooding risks still exist, and since customers often turn to MSDPC during floods, it’s important for us to educate the public about options they have to protect themselves and their property. By visiting KnowYourZone.org they can determine for themselves whether to obtain flood insurance through their homeowners or renters insurance, or through the national program.”
More information can be found at KnowYourZone.org.
When it rains, it pours, especially for those living in a high-risk flood zone. But like McCoy said, if it rains where you live, it can most certainly flood where you live, even if you’re not in a high-risk zone.
Voters approved both Proposition W and Proposition S. Both propositions are important in how they can affect customers’ future bills. MSD services all of St. Louis City and around 90% of St. Louis County.
