District judge: Desoto County has 8 years to build own wastewater treatment plant
Desoto County has eight years to construct and begin operating its own wastewater treatment facility, a U.S. district judge has ruled.
Until that time, the city of Memphis shall continue treating wastewater from Desoto County, with The Horn Lake Creek Basin Interceptor Sewer District of Desoto County using a new fee schedule that increases each year.
Judge Mark Norris issued the ruling last week.
The eight-year period begins Oct. 1. The Horn Lake Creek Basin Interceptor Sewer District of Desoto County is required to file an estimated construction schedule with the court on or before Dec. 29, 2023.
The Horn Lake District must pay the city of Memphis using a “volumetric rate” that is calculated according to a formula including a percentage that will increase each year, according to a schedule laid out in the judge’s order.
Using the current rates of $0.96 and $3.32, the District’s rate beginning on July 1, 2024, would be $1.08 per 1,000 gallons. By July 1, 2031, the rate is likely to rise to $3.32 per 1,000 gallons, according to calculations included in the judge’s memorandum.
Currently, portions of unincorporated Desoto County, Horn Lake and Southaven are on Memphis’ sewer system, the result of a 40-plus-year agreement that ends in September 2023. The ruling marks the end of a five-year controversy that began in 2018 when Memphis began asserting that it would not renew the contract with the sewer district and asked a federal judge to say definitively that it could end the contract. In late March, a summary judgment was issued, ruling that the agreement is set to end Sept 22, 2023.
The Desoto County Regional Utility
Authority will have to “significantly expand” its Johnson Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility, which currently treats 2 million gallons a day, according to a memorandum accompanying Norris’ ruling. That means “the expansion required to treat the District’s wastewater is equivalent to building a new treatment plant.” The estimated cost of doing so is $235 million.
Katherine Burgess covers Memphis City Government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kathsburgess.