Sara Edgar
The Labadie coal plant near Labadie, Missouri, is the largest power plant in the state and 14th-largest in the country. A 2012 report by the Environmental Integrity Project found it to be the most deadly coal plant in the nation. Of the 39 largest coal plants in the U.S., it is the only one that does not have scrubbers (one of those 39 coal plants is in Indiana and is set to either close or install scrubbers). Labadie is owned by Ameren and is located in Franklin County, about an hour from St. Louis in a rural farming community along the Missouri River. Just across the river is St. Charles County, the most affluent in the state and regularly included in lists of the 100 most politically conservative counties in the country.
The plant is also being cited in a letter from the EPA for not living up to federal air quality standards, specifically regarding its emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2).
Sierra Club members and residents fighting to curb pollution from the Labadie plant got good news this February when the EPA stated that they intended to declare the region as being in non-attainment of the sulfur dioxide (SO2) standard. Such a designation would likely have require Ameren to install scrubbers on Labadie. Advocates for clean air canvassed, engaged local residents, spoke at hearings and delivered hundreds of written comments, sent in hand-written letters, and met with elected officials in an effort to ensure that the EPA requires Ameren to clean up its act.
“Up until the day prior to the EPA’s final decision, we were being told by state regulators that the decision would be to classify the area around Labadie as out of out of compliance,” says Sara Edgar, an organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “Unfortunately, in July the EPA changed its decision, saying it did not have enough data. This resulted in a process to determine an appropriate monitoring plan and collecting three years of data before any attainment decisions could be made.”
Exacerbating the problem, Ameren had already placed air monitors in two locations that were poorly-chosen for gathering accurate data, but which were approved by the state, but not EPA. Despite multiple assessments, including the EPA saying the monitors are insufficient and poorly placed, it appears the EPA may just give Ameren another free pass.
In an attempt to make the best out of a bad situation, local residents took the issue to anyone who would listen, including a local county councilman who lives near the plant. He saw the seriousness of the situation and decided to propose a resolution and invite both local advocates and Ameren representatives to make a presentation to the council on the issue. The day of the council meeting, Ameren declined to attend, but local attorney Maxine Lipeles of Washington University’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic gave a persuasive presentation to the council.
The council reacted with concern. One council member spoke of his own asthma and of his granddaughter; another pointed out that Ameren's decision to install scrubbers on a much smaller plant on the Illinois border suggested an attempt to protect Illinois’ air but not Missouri's. The council decided to hold off voting on the issue until Ameren had a chance to speak up for itself. Despite Ameren’s presentation against the resolution on September 12th, the council decided to pass it unanimously.
“By trying to stop this common sense resolution calling for good air quality monitoring, it seems to imply that the Ameren representatives were afraid of finding pollution and were trying to avoid installing scrubbers at Labadie,” said Sara Edgar, Senior Organizing Representative for Missouri Beyond Coal.
Bolstered by the vote, local clean air advocate Patricia Schuba took the issue to a neighboring city council that then chose to pass a similar resolution of their own.
"This is good news for the people who live around the Labadie plant and in the shadow of its pollution," said Andy Knott, Senior Campaign Representative for Missouri Beyond Coal. "The Labadie coal plant is the largest source of sulfur dioxide pollution in Missouri by far.”
A copy of the resolution was forwarded by the county council to the EPA, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill, Congresswoman Ann Wagner, and Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer. A decision on the monitoring network is due at the end of October.
"We commend the St. Charles County Council and Pacific Board of Alderman for showing leadership on this vital issue” says Missouri Sierra Club Director John Hickey. “Ameren’s Labadie plant is the largest coal-fired plant in the nation without adequate sulfur dioxide controls. Surrounding communities are exposed to unprecedented levels of the dangerous toxin, but without properly placed monitors, it is next to impossible for officials to get the accurate readings they need to protect our air.
“By passing this resolution, these elected officials are doing what’s best for constituents and we hope the EPA takes the necessary steps to ensure that accurate data is collected,” Hickey says. “For the health and well-being of our communities we must ensure that pollution monitoring is done accurately."