ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — 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.
