Nash Road industries face big costs to upgrade sewer systems

Twenty businesses in the Nash Road industrial park face a huge expense to upgrade the park’s sewage system to meet federal and state environmental regulations, city and civic leaders say.

Businesses in the industrial park near the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport are served by a lagoon system that treats the sewage and discharges it into the Diversion Channel.

But deputy city manager Molly Hood said the lagoon likely would have to be upgraded by April 2017 to meet ammonia and bacteria restrictions to secure a new permit to continue operating the system.

Hood told the city council at a special study session last month the best option would be for the businesses to hook into the city’s sewer system.

But that comes at an estimated $7.1 million price tag. It would require installing sewer pipe under Interstate 55 to connect with a pump station that would carry the sewage to the city’s new wastewater treatment plant.

As part of the sewer improvements, the city would look to connect the airport to the sewer system, Hood said.

Like the industrial park, the airport is served by a lagoon. But unlike the Nash Road lagoon, the airport lagoon doesn’t drain into the Diversion Channel.

City employees routinely have to pump out the airport lagoon and haul the sewage in a tanker truck to the city’s treatment plant.

Hood said the city would pay part of the cost of the sewer improvements, but the Nash Road businesses would have to pay the bulk of the expense.

The airport is within the city limits, but the Nash Road industries are not.

Those businesses would have to be annexed into the city to hook up to the city’s sewer system, Hood said.

John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, met with representatives of the various businesses Monday.

The businesses are looking at other possible solutions that might prove less costly than connecting to the city sewer system, Mehner said.

Those options may include upgrading the lagoon system or having businesses install separate septic systems. But he acknowledged hooking into the city’s sewer system would eliminate any worries for Nash Road businesses about possible, future environmental regulations that could force companies to incur more expenses.

State and federal regulations have made it increasingly difficult to operate sewage-lagoon systems.

Mehner said the sewage issue only involves “flushing toilets and running sinks,” not industrial waste.

The BioKyowa plant, which produces pharmaceutical-grade amino acids, has its own system that handles its industrial waste, Mehner said.

Steve Obermann, president of SEMO Ready Mix on Nash Road, said options might involve some businesses installing septic systems, which might lessen the stress on the lagoon system and allow it to continue to operate.

Obermann said the cost of hooking up to the city sewer system could be spread over 20 years.

Because the sewer would not be serving residences, the project doesn’t qualify for a government grant, Obermann said.

Most of the businesses would prefer not to be annexed into the city, he said.

Nash Road businesses pay the city of Cape Girardeau for police and fire protection.

But Obermann said that is only a small expense.

Solving the industrial park’s sewage issue should be a concern to everyone, Obermann said.

The industrial park’s businesses employ about 450 people, Obermann said.

“Nash Road is pretty important for the economy down here,” he said.

While the Nash Road site continues to be a viable location for industrial firms, the city has opened a new business park along Interstate 55 at LaSalle Avenue several miles north of the Diversion Channel and not at risk of flooding.

It is served by the city sewer system.

The chamber of commerce and the city have been marketing the new business park to prospective businesses.

Mehner said companies outside of this region are reluctant to consider sites along Nash Road because of the risk of flooding from the nearby Diversion Channel.

But companies familiar with this region see Nash Road as a viable location for industry, as the area is protected by an earthen levee, Mehner said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Nash Road industrial park, Cape Girardeau, Mo.