The Labadie Environmental Organization has been fighting Ameren’s plan to put a coal ash dump in the Missouri River floodplain (say what?!) above the drinking water supply for much of St. Louis–the most ill conceived location imaginable. Now it’s crunch time. Here’s LEO’s latest e-mail:

IS IT THE END OF THE ROAD FOR THE LANDFILL HEARINGS?

Commissioner Griesheimer says this is the final hearing.  The road to this last landfill zoning hearing has been a long and winding one.  With 3 hearings down, 4 hearings postponed and one to go, let’s hope this last one goes off without a hitch from Mother Nature.  Who knows what “hitches” might be in store at the hearing.  There have been plenty in the past.  

The goal when LEO formed 18 months ago was simple but concerned a complex subject:  educate the public and the people making the zoning decision about the hazards of landfills and the hazardous nature of coal ash.  Landfills don’t belong in a floodplain.

From the beginning, our efforts have been met with resistance from the very people who should be advocating for our interests.  LEO has been labeled “opponent” but “advocate” is the right term.  We’ve been called “contentious” for being “tenacious” and not giving up when the goal was to wear out the public.

Thank you for being a tenacious advocate.  Keep up the good work!   Load up the car with friends and neighbors and come to Union on Tuesday.  An auditorium full of advocates would send a powerful message.  Details:

Tuesday, Feb 8th, 6 pm

East Central College

1964 Prairie Dell Rd.

Union MO 63084

Classroom Bldg-AC, Auditorium

If you absolutely, positively cannot attend, please email your comments to

commission@franklinmo.net and send a copy to contact@leomo.info (optional).

or mail your comments to:

Franklin County Commission

400 E. Locust, Room 206

Union, Mo. 63084

Check the website for the latest “in the news” and blogposts.

http://www.leomo.info

Saturday morning. KSLQ 1350 AM radio.  “The Mouth”

A local Franklin County radio station invited two of the Republican candidates for presiding commissioner to debate the pros and cons of AmerenUE’s plan to build a 400 acre coal ash landfill in the Labadie Bottoms next to the Missouri River.  State Sen. John Griesheimer spoke on behalf of Ameren while Ron Keeven remained cooly opposed to the plan.  

Griesheimer is term-limited and had talked about becoming a lobbyist but then filed at the last minute for the top county job.  He has an Ameren hardhat in his office and is known as one of their big guns.

With the planning and zoning commission hearing coming up on Tuesday, July 6, the public conversation has deteriorated, and the power company is throwing around its…well, power.

They want people to think this issue just a local Labadie one, a group of naysayers with a NIMBY complex. But it’s much larger than that.  Everyone who lives downstream from the Labadie plant should be concerned.  If we’ve learned nothing else from the BP disaster in the Gulf, we should at least learn not to believe all the reassurances by dirty energy companies about their “fail safe” methods protecting our environment.

If you can get out to Union, Mo, Tuesday evening by about 5:30 p.m., come fill some seats in the East Central College auditorium.  Exit off I-44 at Union, head west on 50 and watch for the college on the left.  Ameren is going to have lots of its employees there, and you can bet their spokesmen are going to start threatening higher rates, loss of power, and other scare tactics.

Hotflash will post a report after the hearing.    

For those who want to make their opinions about the dangers of coal ash in our environment known to the EPA, here is the pertinent info.  This may seem too wonky for most readers, but it’s really a big deal that the EPA is even considering designating coal ash as hazardous waste.  What’s in a name?  “Hazardous” means a whole different list of rules will have to be followed.  

Below the fold are links to letters from our Missouri officials opposed to the new designation.

EPA announced May 4, 2010, that it is proposing to regulate for the first time coal ash to address the risks from the disposal of the wastes generated by electric utilities and independent power producers.  EPA is considering two possible options for the management of coal ash for public comment. Both options fall under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Under the first proposal, EPA would list these residuals as special wastes subject to regulation under subtitle C of RCRA, when destined for disposal in landfills or surface impoundments.Under the second proposal, EPA would regulate coal ash under subtitle D of RCRA, the section for non-hazardous wastes. The Agency considers each proposal to have its advantages and disadvantages, and includes benefits which should be considered in the public comment period. More information is available  here.   Comments on the rule can be submitted for 90 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register (will be changed with the exact dates after publication).  Comments can be submitted electronically on http://www.regulations.gov; submitted via email to rcra-docket@epa.gov,Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640; faxed to 202-566-0272;Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640; or mailed to the Hazardous Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of SpecialWastes; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities and CERCLA Hazardous Substance Designation and Reportable Quantities Docket, Attention Docket ID No., EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,Washington, DC 20460.  Please include a total of two copies if sending by mail. David W. Bryan, APRPublic Affairs SpecialistOffice of Public Affairs EPA Region 7901 N. 5th Street Kansas City, KS 66101913.551.7433, Fax: 913.551.7066

Rep. Luetkemeyer

Rep. Skeleton

Lt. Gov. Kinder

MO Dept Natural Resources

MO Dept Natural Resources

Mother Nature may be conspiring to force the issue of fossil fuels into the national consciousness.  While we’re watching the devastation in the Gulf of Mexico, the story about the other deadly energy source, coal, is getting less attention.

Within minutes of the release of the long-awaited EPA report on the dangers of coal ash on May 4, several environmental groups held a phone conference to discuss the report. Earthjustice is taking the lead in summarizing the report and urging public participation during the 90-day comment period.

Background:  In December 2009, EPA released findings from studies of coal ash and scrubber sludge residues using new and more accurate testing methods.  This report showed much higher levels of toxic substances than previously thought.  Ironically, what the coal industry has done is trade one environmental problem for another.  Pollutants that used to spew out into the air now are contained and stored in surface empoundments where the heavy metals leach into groundwater.

In Labadie, Mo, the power company, AmerenUE, wants to build a 400 acre landfill to store the residue next to its plant in the Missouri River floodplain.  A highly motivated group of residents is trying to head this monster off before it gets started.

A rational person might think that a damaging report by environmental scientists demonstrating incredibly toxic levels of mercury, arsenic, lead, selenium, etc. in coal ash would shelve any plans to dump the stuff in a floodplain.  But, then again, a rational person might be living in la la land – or at least in a more advanced culture than what we have to put up with in the good ole USA.

Missouri Reps Skeleton and Leutkemeyer, as well as the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, have all written letters to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson opposing regulation of coal waste as a hazardous substance.  They basically say that Missouri is already doing a great job of monitoring and regulating coal waste and more regs would just be too expensive.  Where have we heard that before?

This is an ongoing story.  More later.