A consent decree lodged in US District Court for Western District of Missouri, in Kansas City, requires the city to implement an Overflow Control Plan resulting from more than four years of public input.
The plan is designed to yield long-term benefits to public health and the environment, and provide a model for the incorporation of green infrastructure and technology toward addressing overflow issues.
When completed, the sanitary sewer system will have an infrastructure to capture and convey combined storm water and sewage to the city’s treatment plants. This is expected to keep billions of gallons of untreated sewage from reaching surface waters.
Under the agreement, Kansas City will also pay a civil penalty of $600,000 to the US. The plan is structured to encourage the city to use natural or engineered ‘green infrastructure’, such as green roofs, rain gardens and permeable pavement, to minimize storm water burdens on the system.
As part of the agreement, Kansas City will spend $1.6m on a supplemental environmental project to implement a voluntary sewer connection and septic tank closure program for income-eligible residential property owners who elect to close their septic tanks and connect to the public sewer.
Kansas City’s sewer system collects and receives domestic, commercial and industrial waste water from a population of approximately 650,000.The system covers more than 420 square miles, and includes seven waste water treatment plants, 38 pumping stations and more than 2,800 miles of sewer lines.
Under the consent decree, Kansas City has agreed to expedite certain projects that are expected to provide more immediate relief to residences and other properties situated in under-served areas of the city.
As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to install disinfection treatment systems at all of its waste water treatment plants by 2013.
