PEORIA -- Here's a story that has yet to run in the local news media -- from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
The first, summary sentence states: "Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a complaint
alleging that Ameren Energy Resources Generating Co. illegally disposed
of 180,000 tons of coal ash at the Duck Creek power plant in Peoria,
Ill."
Actually Duck Creek is in Fulton County, not Peoria.
The complaint has been filed with the Illinois Pollution
Control Board. It alleges that Ameren used coal ash, the byproduct of
burning coal to generate electricity, from its E.D. Edwards power plant
near Bartonville as fill
material for a railroad embankment at Duck Creek,
It notified the IEPA of the plan but never received a permit to do the work, the complaint says.Then the agency inspected the site, at the Duck Creek power plant and discovered 3 acres covered in coal ash to a depth of 15 feet. The ash contained toxic materials in excess of state groundwater standards.
Ameren has then refused to move the ash to a landfill.
Ameren's statement to the newspaper said: "We
believe the material was properly used and have submitted additional
analytical work, soil borings and modeling data to demonstrate the lack
of environmental impact. We are disappointed that
rather than seeking additional information from the company -- and after
more than a year of silence -- the Attorney General’s Office chose to
bring this action.”
The Sierra Club plans to issue a news release on this, which is posted below. Let's hope it includes the correct locations of these power plants. (That error is the fault of the newspaper, not the court filing.)
This is not Ameren's only use of coal ash. A huge site east of the Murray Baker Bridge several years ago was filled in with coal ash, presumably with a permit, but who knows!
Coal ash has also been disposed of in private landfills on Ameren property.
-- Elaine Hopkins
Sierra Club Statement on the Illinois Attorney General Filing Suit Against Ameren Illinois
SPRINGFIELD - Today, the Illinois Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against
Ameren Illinois for illegally disposing coal ash at the utility
company's Edwards coal plant in Peoria and Duck Creek coal plant in
Canton.
In
response to today's lawsuit filing, Jack Darin, Illinois Chapter
Director of the Sierra Club released the following statement:
"In December, Ameren announced
they would no longer purchase power from their coal-fired power plants
in Illinois, making it clear that they have no long-term investment in
the communities that surround the coal plants. Pollution from Ameren's
coal plants and the illegal disposal of coal ash has plagued the health
of communities in Illinois for more than 50 years, and we applaud the
Attorney General for taking steps to prevent the utility from hurting
health in Illinois."
John Hickey, Missouri Chapter Director of the Sierra Club released the following statement:
"Repeated
groundwater contamination issues from coal ash disposal at Ameren
Illinois' plants are a red flag for the communities that surround Ameren
Missouri's coal plants. Unlike the coal plants in Illinois, there is no
groundwater monitoring installed at Ameren's Missouri coal plants to
detect issues that threaten Missourians' health. We call on the Missouri
Department of Natural Resources to examine coal ash disposal issues at
Ameren's Missouri coal plants in order to protect our health."-30-
Comments