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EPA denies extension for Ameren to stop dumping coal ash, gypsum at two power plants
Ameren Missouri must stop dumping waste from two of its coal-fired power plants into nearby pits following a federal crackdown on coal ash that denied the electric utility an extension to comply with new regulations. The move could force the utility to retire at least one of the facilities years ahead of schedule. The Environmental […]
Climate change means more flooding, raising concerns about Missouri coal ash ponds
This story was produced by Missouri Information Corps. Our warming planet is the catalyst behind heavier rains that threaten to bring about a hidden danger — rising water tables seeping into unlined coal ash pits, mixing with and contaminating groundwater used not only for agriculture, but as drinking water. In Missouri, out of the 16 coal-fired […]
Endangered fish, leaching ash ponds: Environmental groups oppose Missouri coal plant permit
For years, Lisa Zerbe said she biked, rode horses and ran near Ameren Missouri’s largest coal-fired power plant in Franklin County because she “naively believed” state environmental regulators were protecting citizens from pollution. Now, she won’t. “It is truly a disheartening feeling of betrayal from an agency in my younger years I would have imagined […]
Ameren to shutter Rush Island coal plant by 2024 following Clean Air Act violation
Ameren will shutter a Jefferson County coal plant found in violation of federal clean air laws rather than install what it says are expensive pollution controls, the company announced Tuesday. The St. Louis-based electrical utility will close the Rush Island Energy Center, built in the mid-1970s, by the spring of 2024, if not sooner. Ameren […]
Activists target corporate campaign cash in battle against voting restrictions
Members of the Defend Black Voters Coalition chose Detroit’s Huntington Center as their backdrop earlier this month when they issued a warning about the dangers of “voter suppression legislation” backed by Republican state lawmakers. The building behind them, formerly known as the TCF Center, was a powerful symbol of what could happen if elections indeed are undermined. […]
Permit for Ameren Missouri’s Labadie coal plant was issued lawfully, commission says
Missouri’s Clean Water Commission agreed Tuesday that environmental regulators were correct to issue a permit allowing the state’s largest coal-fired plant to discharge superheated water into the Missouri River despite environmentalists’ contention the utility operating it should invest in newer technology. The commission’s vote upheld a determination by the Administrative Hearing Commission that a permit […]
Evergy to shutter Kansas coal plant, speed transition to renewable energy
Evergy, an electric supplier to about 600,000 customers in western Missouri, will retire its coal power plant in Lawrence, Kansas, by the end of 2023, the company announced on Friday. The utility revealed its plan to regulators in a filing with the Missouri Public Service Commission. The “integrated resource plan” lays out Evergy’s next few years […]
How a local coalition is trying to improve internet access in Kansas City
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of adults and children into remote work and online learning last spring, the divide between those with adequate internet and the knowledge to use it, and those without, became even more prominent. There were students who needed devices, households that needed more affordable internet and older adults who needed […]
Why does Missouri allow Ameren to operate above the law?
The Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act have saved millions of lives over the last 50 years. In Missouri, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is responsible for enforcing federal environmental laws like these. But the agency, unfortunately, acts more like a lapdog than watchdog when it comes to regulating Ameren Missouri and its […]
Missouri Senate opens annual session with bitter divisions on display
At the west end of the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday, the state House opened the annual legislative session in the traditional way, with routine business and a quick adjournment. At the east end, in the state Senate, bitter divisions exposed last year resurfaced, as members of the conservative caucus aired their grievances and Democrats brooded […]