Fighting sewer system backups in St. Louis County gets a boost via $47.7 million federal loan

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District secured a massive chunk of funding last month for a wastewater management project that aims to combat sewer system backups in a suburban swath of St. Louis County, from Clayton to Shrewsbury.

The $47.7 million loan from the Environmental Protection Agency announced Dec. 20 represents nearly half of the overall price for the $97 million Deer Creek Sanitary Tunnel and Sanitary Relief project, which will feature an almost four-mile tunnel for wastewater transmission, bored 150 to 250 feet below ground.