ST CHARLES, Mo. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is giving the City of St. Charles and Ameren 21 days to reach an agreement for entry by Ameren representatives to investigate and work on the Elm Point Wellfield.
In a letter sent on April 3, the EPA is asking for entry by representatives of Ameren to access St. Charles property "for the purposes of investigating and responding to environmental conditions at this location."
The letter states Ameren needs access to St. Charles property for monitoring existing and future wells and performing work to protect them.
The City of St. Charles has shut down six of its seven wells since October 2022 due to traces of 1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride.
To combat a drinking water shortage, the city has been purchasing millions of gallons of water daily from the City of St. Louis instead of producing its own at a lower cost.
EPA test results revealed an Ameren substation was the source of the water contamination and said the electric company would be required to clean it up.
The EPA announced it was directing Ameren to conduct additional cleanup work as part of a 2018 agreement. The EPA said Ameren needed to perform cleanup pilot studies to reduce contaminants, look into different courses of action to keep the contamination from happening and work with St. Charles to address the city's water supply needs while the fixes are being developed and implemented.
In the letter, the EPA said the city and Ameren have been working on negotiating access for the last few months, but they have not agreed upon access.
As a result, the EPA is giving both parties 21 days to reach an agreement:
"To this end, the City and Ameren need to reach an agreement on access within the next 21 days. If agreement is not reached, the EPA may pursue enforcement options, such as the issuance of an access order requiring the City to grant Ameren access pursuant to CERCLA § 104. In the interim, the EPA is happy to convene a meeting with Ameren and the City to discuss remaining barriers to reaching an agreement on access."
On Tuesday, Benjamin M. Washburn, chief of Public Engagement and Communications Services with the EPA Region 7 office, provided a response regarding the status of the agreement:
As of April 25, the City of St. Charles and Ameren have not reached an agreement. However, the EPA has seen significant progress made by the parties in the past 21 days and is actively assisting the parties to finalize an agreement. While the agency is hopeful that an agreement on access will be reached imminently, EPA remains willing to issue an order compelling access.
Further delays in finalizing an access agreement will result in delays to field work required by EPA. This work includes necessary groundwater sampling of municipal wells, as well existing and future monitoring wells installed on City property within the Elm Point Wellfield. This sampling will allow the EPA to monitor changes to groundwater concentrations of contaminants of concern and determine whether there is movement of contaminants that could have a potential impact on city wells; update the conceptual site model which will be used to update the Record of Decision if necessary; and conduct performance monitoring of the interim response actions being conducted inside and outside of the Ameren substation, as well as any future remedial actions. Access will also allow Ameren, under EPA oversight, to perform work as required under the focused feasibility study.
Statement from Ameren Missouri
We believe our shared goal is to continue protecting the drinking water supply. The best way to do that is to work together and we have been attempting to reach an agreement as to access for months. In a letter to the City of St. Charles, we identify a detailed plan of action moving forward.
Statement from the City of St. Charles
The City continues to work with Ameren and USEPA to resolve the few remaining issues with the access agreement for testing on City property. We are awaiting a comprehensive monitoring plan from the USEPA to incorporate into the agreement which should resolve the bulk of the concerns to the City. To be clear, the City has never denied Ameren access to conduct testing even during the negotiation of the written agreement. Unfortunately, even when specifically granted access, Ameren refused to show up last fall and conduct the monitoring as planned. The City encourages Ameren to conduct the monitoring and testing as required by the USEPA and continues to move toward a permanent written agreement.
5 On Your Side talked to residents about what's now another ticking clock.
"It just seems like they're at such an impasse that nothing can be reached," Kara Elms said.
Elms, a resident with the St. Charles Clean Water Advocates, has been following every development at the wellfield for the last year.
"It's been a long time coming, it seems like there's been a disagreement on access for about a year," she said.
She's reacting to the EPA's letter.
"US as the citizens, we're being held hostage in the middle. There's the City and then there's Ameren. But they need to come up with something together to say hey, we're going to come together, we're going to get this access agreement, and we're going to clean up this contamination."
She said they're frustrated that access to cleanup still hasn't happened. Especially when drastic measures, like the city threatening to sue Ameren Missouri, have already been taken.
"As an access agreement, there needs to be some negotiation, there needs to be agreement. Once you go out there swinging, I think Ameren is going to close up," Elms said.
Elms said residents still have so many questions. She hopes this 21-day period doesn't create more.
"People need to be collaborative, and I don't want the EPA to have to step in," she said.
As she and all St. Charles residents wait out the next few weeks, she hopes the decision-makers think about the next few years.
"An access issue needs to be reached for a long period of time, so this never has to be discussed again. The contamination needs to be cleaned up and this shouldn't be a fight," she said.