St. Louis County Imminent Health Threat SSTS Abatement Program

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2016 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$200,000
Fund Source
Clean Water Fund
Recipient
St. Louis County
Recipient Type
Local/Regional Government
Status
Completed
End Date
January 2020
Activity Type
Grants/Contracts
Counties Affected
St. Louis
St. Louis
Project Overview

St. Louis County's Comprehensive Water Management Plan Update 2010-2020 identifies providing financial assistance to qualifying homeowners to upgrade or replace failing septic systems as a Priority 2 action. Funds from the FY-16 Clean Water Fund Projects and Practices Grant will be used to provide funding to low-income homeowners to repair or replace SSTS identified as Imminent Threat to Public Health (ITPH) within the following watersheds: Lake Superior South, St. Louis River, Cloquet River, Mississippi River-Grand Rapids, Vermilion River, Little Fork, Rainy Lake and Rainy River Headwaters. Those systems identified as straight-piping or surface discharging will receive higher Project priority status, thereby eliminating direct sewage discharge to adjacent water bodies; wetlands, lakes, streams, rivers or groundwater. Homeowners not meeting the minimum qualifications for the St. Louis County (SLC)/MN AgBMP Low-Interest SSTS Loan Program and have incomes below 90% of the median household income for SLC will qualify for grant funding. These low-income homeowners have no other means to finance repair or replacement of the ITPH systems. Currently, SLC Environmental Services Department (ESD) has listed 27 known residential ITPH SSTS identified through point of sale compliance inspections, formal complaints or referred by the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) through their Single Family Rehab Program and Home Investment Partnerships Program. ESD is partnering with the SLC Housing and Rehabilitation Authority (HRA) to contract with the AEOA to process applications and screen homeowners for household income and to administer funding mechanisms to repair or replace the ITPH SSTS. [When the list was developed in 2012, ESD identified 29 families as having ITPH systems, 21 of the systems have been replaced, yet ESD currently has 27 homeowners listed with ITPH systems, demonstrating a need for continued program funding.]

Competitive Grant Making Body
Board Members and Qualifications

See http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/aboutbwsr/index.html and http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/aboutbwsr/boarddirectory.pdf

Advisory Group Members and Qualifications

See http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/aboutbwsr/index.html

Conflict of Interest Contact

Marcey Westrick

Legal Citation / Subdivision
Laws of MN 2015 1st Special Session Chapter 2, Article 2, Section 7
Appropriation Language

Projects and Practices 2016: Laws of MN 2015 First Special Session Chapter 2, Article 7, Section 7

2016 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$200,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$34,940
Direct expenses
$200,000
Administration costs
$12
Measurable Outcome(s)

This project resulted in an estimated annual reduction of 2789 lbs of BOD5, 68100000000000 CFUs e. Coli, 25 lbs of nitrate, 119 lbs of nitrogen, 243 lbs of phosphorus. Additionally, 1200 preventative pollution practices (with no associated estimation calculator) were installed as part of this grant project.

Proposed Outcomes Achieved
achieved proposed outcomes
Source of Additional Funds

LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS

Project Manager
First Name
Donna
Last Name
Oconnor
Organization Name
St. Louis County
Phone
218-749-0630
Email
oconnord@stlouiscountymn.gov
Administered By
Administered by
Location

520 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, MN 55155

Phone
651- 296-3767