Photo Courtesy of Missouri Coalition for the Environment This week we saw a positive development from the Missouri and federal governments when they jointly filed an enforcement action against the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD). The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has long felt that a schedule of remedies should be imposed on MSD to keep it on track as it cleans up the sewers in St. Louis.

We also feel that much more transparency and accountability is needed in its operations. MSD has had a history of management problems and is behind schedule in cleaning up sewer overflows. As MSD embarks on a multi-billion dollar plan to deal with CSOs and SSOs, it is imperative that the public understand what is going on and that clear goals are set. This enforcement action will hopefully move things in the right direction.

It's disappointing how hostile MSD reacted to the enforcement suit filed yesterday (See News Release Below). MSD continues to engage in scare tactics with the residents of St. Louis by citing extreme compliance costs that are well beyond what any other city has spent all while dumping more sewage into St. Louis's rivers and streams. The Coalition had served a notice of intent to sue the MSD in April and we are now evaluating our options as to how best to ensure that a positive resolution is achieved.

EPA got a lot of info from MSD through its powers under CWA sec. 308. They have more info than we do at this point in time. I suspect EPA shared some of this with the state.