JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded $100 million in financial assistance to the City of Kansas City for upgrades to its Blue River Biosolids Wastewater Facility, located at 7300 Hawthorne, near Interstate 435 and Front Street. The project is estimated to cost $140 million and is expected to be completed by January 2024.

The facility receives waste sludge from three other Kansas City wastewater treatment plants. The sludge is then incinerated and disposed of in landfills. The improvement project includes replacing the aging incinerators with a thermal hydrolysis process, as well as rehabilitating the existing facility.

The thermal hydrolysis process converts waste into clean, useful products, including fertilizer for farms and gardens and biogas to produce electrical power and heat. The new system will be better for the environment, enabling the city to eliminate the production of harmful air pollutants and ash that had to be disposed of in landfills. In addition, thermal hydrolysis provides the city with the most cost-effective treatment solution available.