JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — An Ameren power plant with a long history of federal Clean Air Act violations will shut down on Tuesday.
The Rush Island Energy Center was the nation's sixth-largest emitter of sulfur dioxide (SO2) when it was fully operational, according to the Sierra Club. The plant ceased operations amid the utility's ongoing legal battle to properly remediate communities after years of illegally polluting air emissions.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ameren continues to pollute Missouri's air while not following legal orders, judge rules
Judge Rodney Sippel with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ruled that Ameren violated the Clean Air Act when it made major modifications to the plant's performance in 2007 and 2010, without a permit or installation of modern air pollution controls. The judge's ruling was then upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Ameren, facing multiple legal battle defeats, previously decided to close, or "retire," the Rush Island plant 15 years ahead of its previously set schedule instead of installing pollution control technology that Sippel ordered in 2019, the judge said in his ruling.
"These emissions harm public health and the environment, contribute to premature deaths, asthma attacks, acid rain, and other adverse effects in downwind communities including the St. Louis Metropolitan Area," Sippel said in his ruling. "Rush Island continued its unpermitted pollution of tens of thousands of tons of SO2 that would have been reduced sooner had Ameren complied with my orders or timely begun the regulatory proceedings to retire Rush Island."
Ameren, the Department of Justice, and the Sierra Club remain in remediation negotiations to provide some type of compensation to residents affected by the plant's illegal emissions.
Another Ameren coal-fired power plant, the Labadie Energy Center, could face a similar fate. The plant has emitted high levels of PM2.5 since 2016 according to Missouri Public Service Commission documents, and new EPA rules targeting hazardous air pollution easily put the plant out of compliance, meaning the plant would either have to install new pollution controls or shut down.
The new rules announced in April were the "base proposal" illustrated in the graph below.
Gretchen Waddell Barwick, chapter director of the Missouri Sierra Club, sent 5 On Your Side the following statement regarding Rush Island's closing:
“Warner Baxter, Marty Lyons, and other Ameren executives knew they were irreparably harming our region when they chose to illegally pollute the air we breathe. Marty Lyons knows that his utility is harming not just our air, but our climate, given Ameren’s massive reliance on its other coal plants and Ameren’s plan to build a lot of new gas-burning power plants.
“Ameren’s disregard for public health is why its leaders plan to operate the Labadie coal plant into the 2040s. Labadie, which lacks modern pollution controls, is the top emitter of sulfur dioxide and is the second-deadliest power plant in the entire country. We all need Ameren’s executives to do better, because our health and a habitable future hang in the balance.”
Ameren sent 5 On Your Side the following statement:
“Ameren Missouri is grateful for the hard work and dedication of all those who contributed to Rush Island Energy Center during the past 48 years, and we will continue to support the local community in Jefferson County throughout this process. As we focus on decommissioning the facility, we remain committed to providing our customers with safe, reliable and affordable energy to meet their needs now and into the future.”
Ameren declined further comment citing pending litigation.
