ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–The Metropolitan Sewer District is blaming Mother Nature for the catastrophic sewer backups that swamped parts of north St. Louis,  while a local alderman is pinning the blame on MSD.

“We had four-to-six inches of rain that dropped in a 90 minute period,” said MSD spokesman Lance LeComb, “When you have that much rainfall, it simply overwhelms the combined sewer system.”

More than a dozen homes were evacuated and condemned along Dryden Court near Interstate 70 and Shreve.   And some 50 other homes in the area were damaged, according to neighborhood Alderman Antonio French.

“We’re going to make sure that MSD does right by these folks over here,” French said.   French says the usual MSD sewer backup payout of $2,400 per household won’t be enough this time.   He says MSD’s blame lies in the “collapse” of a nearby sewer pipe that runs under Interstate 70.

“To say that what happened here is simply unrelated to this 70 disaster that they’re fixing less than 50 yards away is kind of hard to believe,” French said.

LeComb claims the pipe didn’t collapse, but did blow water up threw man hole covers that had been covered years ago when the highway was paved.  

“Our investigation thus far shows that the integrity of the sewer pipe has not been compromised,” LeComb said. 

LeComb says the investigation will be ongoing throughout the week. 

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