Two aging sewage treatment plants in Bullitt County are getting torn out after years of odor complaints, as the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District moves to replace them with a new pump station that sends wastewater to Louisville instead. MSD will decommission the Hillview No. 1 plant on Lees Lane, which is more than 50 years old, along with the Bullitt Hills plant on Zoneton Road, which is more than 25 years old, and route the wastewater to a treatment center in southwest Jefferson County.
MSD is launching the project at a reported cost of $10.2 million, according to WDRB, though WLKY reported the project is estimated at $13 million. The project will replace the two existing facilities with a new pump station and sewer lines, with wastewater redirected to MSD's Derek R. Guthrie Water Quality Treatment Center in southwest Jefferson County, according to the Courier Journal.
A Bigger Plant, Underground Treatment
The Guthrie facility can treat up to 60 million gallons of wastewater per day, the Courier Journal reports, and will receive wastewater from the two Bullitt County plants being phased out. Rather than the current open-air process, wastewater will now be treated underground — a shift MSD says in its release addressed worsened odors tied to the open-air system, per the same Courier Journal account.
WDRB reports that MSD described the existing plants as “underequipped” to serve a growing community, and MSD officials told the Courier Journal the new system is designed to accommodate wastewater volumes required for growing suburban communities. The project is also meant to reduce hazardous sewer overflows and address odor concerns while improving service for residents, according to the station's reporting.
Construction Scope and Timeline
WDRB reports the work is expected to take roughly two years and will include installation of more than 7,000 linear feet of underground sewer lines. WLKY reports a new pumping station will be built near Preston Highway and Zoneton Road, with sewage rerouted to the southwest Jefferson County plant. MAC Construction & Excavating will carry out the plan, the Courier Journal reports, and once the new system is operating, crews will decommission and deconstruct the two existing plants along with the old pump station.
The move follows years of planning. A 2024 report on MSD's longer-term goals for the region, noted by the Pioneer News, estimated eliminating the Lees Lane and Bullitt Hills plants at $13.1 million through construction of a new regional treatment plant off Zoneton Road — a figure in the same range as WLKY's current estimate, though tied to an earlier planning stage.
Who Pays, and What It Means for Rates
WDRB reports that Bullitt County ratepayers will cover the project cost through incremental increases over the next 10 years. Separately, WLKY reports that MSD's website indicates Bullitt County residents can expect a 3% rate increase on Jan. 1. The two outlets describe the rate impact differently, and the available reporting does not spell out how a single-year 3% increase relates to the longer run of incremental increases WDRB describes.
Hillview Mayor Jim Eadens has fielded ongoing complaints from constituents about sewage odors in the community, and he framed the project as overdue relief. Eadens said it was time to say “Hillview smells good,” according to the seed reporting from the Lexington Herald-Leader. He added that the project will protect the environment and improve residents' public health and quality of life, describing it as an investment in infrastructure and in Hillview's future and families.
MSD Frames It as a Model Partnership
MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott cast the project as more than a local fix. He said partnerships like this one can benefit the environment, community and economic development, and he called the Bullitt County collaboration a model for how Kentucky can pursue safe, clean waterways going forward. The project is intended to improve services and residents' quality of life while helping close out localized plants that have driven up maintenance costs and carried overflow risks, per that same reporting.
The Bullitt County work follows other recent MSD sewer upgrades in the area, including separate pipe replacement and the installation of dual 8-inch force mains under E Blue Lick Road between N Triangle Lane and Carter Avenue, according to a notice from the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District. For now, the exact start date and completion timeline for the new pump station and treatment rerouting have not been detailed beyond the roughly two-year estimate.
