Ameren at center of coal ash controversy

May 31, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

EPA Region 7 and Rotary Drilling have reached a proposed agreement to address environmental impacts from the unauthorized disposal of approximately 140,000 tons of coal ash from Ameren Missouri's Rush Island Power Plant.

EPA alleges that the dumping of the coal ash on property owned by Rotary Drilling Supply impacted wetlands, an unnamed tributary to Plattin Creek and a portion of Willers Lake. Ameren Missouri is currently seeking the approval of the DNR to build a coal ash landfill at its Rush Island Power Plant, among others, and is under fire by the Sierra Club for related groundwater contamination. The coal ash from the plant contains environmentally harmful metals that migrate into adjacent surface waters.

Between October 2004 and September 2008, Rotary Drilling and Mineral Resource Technologies contracted with Kleinschmidt Trucking to haul and dispose of 95,000 tons of coal ash to the Rotary Drilling site. Mineral Resource Technologies contracted with Union Electric Company (dba Ameren Missouri) to find and secure locations for coal ash disposal. In 2007, Union Electric contracted directly with Kleinschmidt Trucking to haul and dispose of 45,000 tons of coal ash from the Rush Island Power Plant at Rotary Drilling's property.

EPA's proposed settlement requires Rotary Drilling to abate impacts of the coal ash disposal by placing a protective cap over the coal ash piles and installing controls to prevent the continued migration of coal ash constituents into wetlands and other surface waters. Rotary Drilling must also mitigate for lost wetland functions by purchasing wetland mitigation bank credits, which involve the restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of a wetland, stream, or habitat conservation area to offset adverse impacts to similar nearby ecosystems in order to replace the function and value of the specific wetland habitats adversely impacted.

On April 18, 2012, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued Notices of Violation to Rotary Drilling Supply, Kleinschmidt Trucking, Mineral Resource Technologies, Inc., and the Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri for violations of Missouri's solid waste beneficial use regulations.

For more:
- see this letter
- visit this website

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/ameren-center-coal-ash-controversy/2013-05-31