Far beneath the rugged and austere beauty of our Ozarks landscape, lies the pristine Ozark aquifer. The most widely used and important source of groundwater in southwest Missouri, it is the lifeblood of many-a-rural resident and a source of drinking water for cities and towns. On the surface, near Springfield, Missouri, flows Wilson’s Creek. This geological wonder has a swallow hole (a sinkhole in the creek) churning and bubbling to the wonder and amazement of passers-by, as the creek disappears into secret recesses and passageways underground, only to re-emerge further downstream.
Unfortunately our water, both on the surface and under the ground, is once again threatened with special interest legislation. Three bills passed by the Missouri legislature in the final weeks of the session favor City Utilities of Springfield over its residents when it comes to coal ash disposal. The bills contain a special exclusion just for City Utilities, preventing DNR from imposing any protections that go beyond what’s in the federal coal ash regulations – which EPA is in the process of significantly weakening and which, even in their current form, are not as strong as existing state regulations regarding coal ash disposal in sensitive karst environments like the one around Springfield. City Utilities is the only utility in the state to get this dangerous exclusion, which would prevent the state from enforcing its own regulations designed to prevent coal ash landfills in unsuitable areas.
Why is this dangerous? City Utilities has been disposing of coal ash in an unlined landfill at the John Twitty plant since the early 1980s without monitoring the groundwater to detect contamination from the toxic metals in coal ash that could be leaking into our springs, creeks, and groundwater. In 2012, DNR amended City Utilities’ landfill permit to require City Utilities to implement a groundwater monitoring program. Since then, City Utilities has failed to submit a groundwater monitoring program that meets DNR’s requirements, and DNR has repeatedly told it so. But the EPA regulations allow utilities to determine their own compliance, and City Utilities claims that it now has a groundwater monitoring program that – according to its hired consultants – meets the EPA regulations. City Utilities wants to get DNR out of the picture, in favor of a program where it certifies its own compliance!
We fought hard trying to defeat these bills, and ultimately lost the battle. Springfield residents deserve better. We should not have to worry whether our municipal utility is contaminating our local waters while doing everything it can – including seeking special favors from the legislature – to avoid adequate monitoring and eliminate meaningful oversight by DNR.