UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Workers will begin to clear huge pieces of debris from sewers in University City. Clogged sewers have been a point of frustration for many residents ever since the massive floods in July 2022.
Metropolitan Sewer District will begin an inspection on Nov. 9 to check the nearly 100 connection points within these tubes. They conduct regular inspections but haven't completed one to this extent since the early 2000s.
The upcoming inspection most extensive sewer inspection in nearly two decades, according to St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) officials.
There are about 6 miles of concrete tubes that MSD has hired a contractor to inspect and clear the blockages including major sections along the River Des Peres that sewer officials said are in an area with an extremely high risk of flooding again in the future.
"The fact of the matter is that removing debris will not reduce the flood risk for people in this area," Bess McCoy, a spokesperson for St. Louis MSD, said. "We don't want to give anyone false hope about that. We will be clearing this debris but we still want people to know that you'll have extreme flood risk when you live in a flood plane. This will not change that."
A record rainfall meant dozens of homes were condemned in the community. People who live there blame blocked sewers as part of the problem.
"I don't think you can point to anything specific or action when it comes to all the flooding we had in July last year," Darin Girdler, Director of Public Works for University City, said. "Seven inches of rain or 8 inches of rain within an hour. There's not a lot that can be done engineering-wise that could help any of that."
Workers have been told to clear any blockages they may see like jammed branches or other debris.
"It breaks my heart when I talk to people who experience extreme flooding like we saw here," McCoy said. "But unfortunately that is something that you have to expect when you live in a flood plain. Trust me if we thought that this debris was in any way creating a meaningful impact on that flooding we would have been out here immediately cleaning it."
Estimated to cost upward of $2.2 million, the project is contracted with Ace Pipe Cleaning. It should take about two months to clear the debris and a full year for the entire inspection to wrap up.
"But the only sustainable solution is to help these people relocate," McCoy said. "You can not engineer your way around a flood plain. You can't clean your way around a floodplain. This area is highly susceptible to flooding. The best solution is to return it to what nature intended."
Buyouts for the 12 homes most impacted by last year's flooding are still underway, being overseen by community development according to Girdler.
They have yet to be approved but are moving forward through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) process.