METROPOLITAN WASTE CONTROL COMMISSION: MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL SANITARY DISTRICT:

The district's financial records include financial statements (1938-1969), budgets (1938-1970), and audit reports (1961-1970) while its subject files contain correspondence, contracts, and related materials documenting sewer interconnections between Minneapolis, St. Paul, and numerous suburban cities; a sampling apparatus patent; sewer rental charges; legal and engineering contracts and bonds; Finance and Commerce advertisements; and relations with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. There are also an architectural drawing and topographic/property ownership map relating to the Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant.

The technical and project reports and engineering studies relate mainly to pollution problems on the Mississippi River, aeration at the Hastings (Minnesota) dam, comprehensive sewage works plans and planning, expansion of the metropolitan area sewer system and sewage treatment facilities, and the apportionment and financing of sewage works costs. Many were carried out by or in cooperation with the University of Minnesota, professional engineer George J. Schroepfer, or St. Paul consulting engineers Toltz, King, Duvall, Anderson and Associates (TKDA). Also included are a set of Mississippi River analytical data (1936-1948, 1951).

The cost data of large sewers includes cost estimates for construction, data collected from other large sewer construction projects, and lists and graphs of cost estimations for materials, construction, excavation, labor and equipment. The contract plans for St. Paul intercepting sewers and appurtenances contain location map and legend, plan and profile drawings, detailed illustrations of sewer sections, equipment diagrams, architectural sketches, and hydro-geological maps of grading and drainage.

The sewer construction photographs document the construction of the Metropolitan Treatment Plant near Pig's Eye Lake in St. Paul, and the digging of tunnels and construction of reinforced-concrete sewers under the streets of St. Paul and (to a much lesser extent) Minneapolis in the 1930s. There are St. Paul street scenes, including views taken near downtown and in the Rondo and Midway neighborhoods; photographs of cave-ins during tunneling operations beneath St. Anthony and Central avenues; and pictures taken along the Mississippi River between Dayton's Bluff and the treatment plant. The photographs are organized in two sets, print and digital, and by contract and job number thereunder. Cost data and contract plans each correspond to sets in the photographs. Also included is a digital file describing the initiation of wastewater collection and treatment for Minneapolis and Saint Paul from 1926-1938.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the image files are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage server and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minneapolis-Saint Paul Sanitary District. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 980-28; 983-48; 993-102; 998-103; 2000-75; 2006-64; 2007-24; 2017-64

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 001737908

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Combined sewers -- Design and construction -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area -- Photographs.

Factory and trade waste -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Municipal powers and services beyond corporate limits -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Rivers -- Aeration -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Sanitary districts -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Sewage disposal in rivers, lakes, etc. -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Sewage disposal -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area -- Costs.

Sewage disposal plants -- Design and construction -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Sewage -- Sampling -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Sewerage -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Water quality management -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Water -- Pollution -- Mississippi River.

Persons:

Schroepfer, George J. (George John), 1906-1984.

Organizations:

Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (Minn.)

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Toltz, King, Duvall, Anderson, and Associates.

University of Minnesota.

Places:

Lock and Dam No. 3 (Mississippi River).

Mississippi River -- Environmental aspects.

Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minn.) -- Maps.

Document Types:

Topographic maps.

Architectural drawings (visual works).

Cadastral maps.

Photographs -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Titles:

Finance and commerce (Minneapolis, Minn.).

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