SAINT LOUIS–(ENEWSPF)–May 30, 2013. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an administrative order alleging the illegal dumping of 140,000 tons of Ameren Missouri’s coal ash waste on property owned by Rotary Drilling Supply. According to the EPA, the coal ash waste contaminated local wetlands and other nearby water sources. All of the ash came from Ameren’s Rush Island plant, where Ameren is proposing to build a new coal ash landfill on top of unlined ash ponds currently in operation at the coal-fired power plant.
“Last week, we called on the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to install groundwater monitoring at Ameren’s coal-fired power plants and coal ash waste sites and hold the utility accountable for years of documented contamination issues in Missouri. Today’s administrative order from the Environmental Protection Agency is proof that Ameren is not being responsible with the management of its coal ash waste.
As Ameren attempts to gain approval for risky new coal ash dumping methods in the Mississippi and Missouri River floodplains, we still do not know the extent of current groundwater contamination at Ameren’s current coal ash waste sites. Now is not the time to approve a new coal ash landfill at Rush Island, but it is time to conduct groundwater monitoring to understand the extent of the contamination.
So-called “beneficial re-use” of coal ash waste is too often an excuse for illegal dumping of coal ash waste. This should be a warning sign for communities in Ste. Genevieve, where Ameren is dumping coal ash waste in untested, porous Mississippi Lime mines. It is time for the EPA and DNR to close this loophole. When the safety of our drinking water and public health are on the line, letting Ameren dump pollutants near our water is unconscionable.”
Source: sierraclub.org
