May 30, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

As Ameren seeks the approval of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to build coal ash landfills some of its coal-fired power plants, the DNR is being urged to take immediate action to require comprehensive groundwater monitoring of the same Ameren coal plants -- Labadie, Meramec, and Rush Island -- in the St. Louis area.

Coal ash ponds in the UK. Credit: Jim Barton/Wikimedia Commons.

The Sierra Club and Labadie Environmental Organization have submitted a letter to the Missouri DNR demanding the action.

"The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has acknowledged the need for groundwater monitoring, but has not yet exercised its authority," said Maxine Lipeles, co-director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic at Washington University School of Law, who submitted the letter to the DNR. "DNR should be requiring Ameren to monitor the groundwater at each of its plants and providing that information to residents to ensure health and safety."

 

The letter cites coal ash leakage issues dating back to 1992 at the Labadie coal-fired power plant when Ameren mentioned that the 154-acre, unlined ash pond at Labadie had two leaks totaling approximately 50,000 gallons per day. In a 2011 annual inspection, DNR noted two additional leaks.

In 1988, Ameren found groundwater contamination at the Meramec coal ash disposal site, according to a report it filed with the DNR. The contamination was associated with one of two ash ponds at which Ameren is now proposing to build a coal ash landfill.

Ameren has also faced contamination issues at its coal ash disposal sites in Illinois. Last summer, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued Violation Notices to Ameren for coal ash pond leakage causing violations of groundwater standards at four of Ameren's coal-fired power plants in Illinois. Ameren Illinois is currently being sued by the Illinois Attorney General for illegally dumping more than 180,000 pounds of coal ash near Peoria.

Ameren's Missouri ash ponds are similar to its Illinois ash ponds as both are old and unlined. However, Illinois has been able to catch contamination by requiring Ameren to conduct groundwater monitoring.

For more:
- see the letter

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