ST CHARLES, Mo. — The City of St. Charles will turn on three of its offline water wells at the Elm Point Wellfield next, a city spokeswoman said.
Leslie Knight, strategic communications manager for the city, said the wells CW-6, CW-7 and CW-8 will be turned back on next Wednesday, Oct. 10. Knight said the resumption comes after the city installed a new carbon filtration system to process the water before it is pumped to residents.
The city will shut down the only well currently operating, CW-10, for maintenance, a press release said.
"The city’s goal of restarting these three drinking water wells is to begin to regain the lost capacity at the Elm Point Drinking Water Treatment Plant by the end of this year. After the successful operation and treatment of CW-6, CW-7 and CW-8 has been established, the city intends to resume the operation of CW-5 and CW-9 in order to achieve full capacity," a press release said.
The wells were shut down due to contamination, which the EPA found originated from an Ameren substation. St. Charles made the decision to shut down the wells as a result of the testing. Ameren was ordered to clean up the contamination, and the logistics of that cleanup have caused rising tensions between Ameren and the city for months.
In February, the city announced the closure of City Well No. 7, meaning the city had shut down six of its seven wells due to traces of 1,2-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if the liquid substance is consumed in large amounts, then contamination may cause nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, liver or kidney issues, or even loss of life. The liquid can contaminate air, water and soil.
Ameren has been working on cleaning up the contamination, which has led to legal battles between the city and the company.
In the most recent update, the city last week withdrew a request for a temporary restraining order against Ameren. The city filed for the restraining order on Thursday, Sept. 14, claiming the company failed to respond to the city's orders to halt the construction of the extraction well. In response to the filing, Ameren Missouri argued that the well is only necessary due to "irresponsible" and "inappropriate" actions of the city regarding City Well 4 to hamper contamination cleanup efforts at the Elm Point Wellfield.
