http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-793264.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – Early next month the Kansas City Council will get a tangible view of proposals to handle wastewater over the next quarter century. And a revised pricetag is now on the record.
It is $2.4 Billion dollars, according to engineers. The multiple projects will handle sewers and storm runoff in a renovated, green friendly, system that's been long outdated. EPA needs to approve, so planning engineer Ron Coker described an environmentally friendly test project in the Marlboro neighborhood on the southeast side. It would include a hundred acres for a first-of-kind test, handling combined overflow of sewers and runoff and it might apply elsewhere around town. In Coker's words,
"we believe that not only the hundred acre pilot but the larger area, the 700 plus acre area of Marlboro, will really become a national demonstration project where you'll have cities from around the nation coming to see what kansas city did, how Kansas City solved the solution".
And work on that phase could begin next year. The whole scope of green wastewater handling is divided into five year segments...over 25 years. Paying for it remains a fluid proposition.