St. Anthony Regional Storm Water Treatment & Research System Officially Opens

An estimated 169 million gal of polluted storm water runoff will be captured and cleaned each year by a new underground treatment and research facility near St. Anthony Village, Minn. Recently completed, the St. Anthony Regional Storm Water Treatment and Research System—a $1.6 million project—is projected to cut pollution levels by more than half for storm water runoff flowing from the southern half of the city into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) funded the project via a grant to the city of St. Anthony Village, which will own the system. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held July 21, 2016, to mark the completion of the project.

“This represents a unique opportunity to treat storm water runoff from a very large area of the city that all flows through a single access point,” said MWMO Executive Director Doug Snyder. “This project will make a significant contribution to improving the quality of the water that drains into the Mississippi River.”

The system will use a combination of technologies to remove an estimated annual average of 39 tons (63%) of sediment and 176 lb (47%) of phosphorus from storm water runoff flowing from St. Anthony Village through Minneapolis, Minn.

The primary treatment method uses a combination of chambers and flow controls to trap, settle and remove pollutants from storm water runoff. A secondary treatment system consisting of two separate filtration devices will remove additional pollutants. The secondary system will also allow researchers to easily add new and emerging treatment technologies to test their effectiveness in removing pollution from storm water runoff.

“Not only will this project have an immediate impact in terms of improving water quality in the river, but it will also help us fine-tune these new treatment technologies so that we can be even more effective going forward,” Snyder said.

The facility will treat an area that covers approximately 600 urbanized acres near the border of St. Anthony Village and northeast Minneapolis. The city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County are also partners on the project.

Community leaders and project partners invite the community to the ribbon-cutting ceremony July 21. Located at the corner of Lowry Avenue NE and Coolidge Street NE, the event will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the ribbon cutting at 6:00 p.m. Exhibits, demonstrations and kids’ activities will be open until 7:00 p.m. Visitors will be able to learn about the system itself, as well as tips for preventing pollution at home.

Community leaders scheduled to speak at the event include Kevin Reich, MWMO board chairman and Minneapolis city councilman, and Jerry Faust, St. Anthony Village mayor and MWMO commissioner.

“This event is our way of saying thank-you to the community members who supported us during the construction of this innovative facility,” said St. Anthony Village City Manager Mark Casey.

To view a video detailing the project, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=paN404heKGA.
To view a live construction feed of the project, visit http://oxblue.com/open/mwmostanthonyregionaltreatment.
For more information on the facility, visit mwmo.org/sav. 

Source: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization