Ameren plant's coal ash ponds polluting Mississippi River, documents allege

ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Regional electric utility Ameren is discharging toxic coal ash pollutants into the Mississippi River at the utility’s coal-fired Sioux Energy Center — not far upstream from where St. Louis draws its municipal drinking water — in violation of the Clean Water Act, according to a complaint sent to the company, plus federal and state authorities.

Great Rivers Environmental Law Center detailed the allegations in a 19-page “notice of intent to sue” sent to Ameren last month. Great Rivers is representing two affiliated water-quality nonprofits, Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance.

The complaints are merely the latest in a long saga of criticism surrounding Ameren’s disposal of coal ash, a byproduct from burning coal that contains a range of harmful components, including arsenic and mercury.

The company’s four coal-fired power plants in the St. Louis area all sit alongside major rivers and, together, have 14 total coal ash ponds — some lined underneath, and others unlined — where material sits buried into the water table at various depths.

Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ameren-plants-coal-ash-ponds-polluting-mississippi-river-documents-allege/article_0d9aabe9-5d75-5082-9770-40a99d92672b.html