ST. LOUIS–A federal judge has ordered Ameren Missouri to spend $61 milllion on projects intended to mitigate violations of the Clean Air Act. The order, entered on Tuesday by the U.S. Disctrict Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, will resolve years-long litigation.
Ameren Missouri spent 14 years polluting the air with sulfur dioxide around its Rush Island coal plant unpermittedly according to the Environment Protection Agency. A remedy settlement was originally agreed to by Ameren Missouri, the United States Department of Justice, and the Sierra Club in November 2024.
“Nothing can undo the widespread harm to human health that Ameren caused by illegally emitting thousands of tons of harmful pollution into the air that St. Louisans breathe every day, but today’s court order requires Ameren to pay for projects that will make that air a little cleaner and provide some measure of justice to the public,” said EPA Region 7 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division Director David Cozad. “The Court’s order also marks the end of a dozen years of litigation where, finally, the rule of law prevailed.”
During 2019, the Court ordered Ameren to comply with the Clean Air Act by installing emissions controls at the Rush Island plant and a nearby plant in Labadie, Mo. EPA stated the excess sulfur dioxide emissions led to increased risks of lung diseason, heart disease, and premature death for downwind communities in the form of harmful particulate matter.
“Ameren broke the law and now it has to pay,” said Jenn DeRose, Senior Field Organizer for the Sierra Club’s Missouri Beyond Coal Campaign. “Its money cannot bring back the innocent lives that utility executives cut short or repair the environmental harms of the illegal and toxic air pollution spewed by the coal plant.”
DeRose went on to declare Ameren has made “unethical business decisions” and “slow-walked the transition from coal and gas to clean energy.”
The $61 million in compensation is to be split between the “HEPA Purifier Program” with a $25 million budget and the “Electric Buses and Charging Infrastructure Program” with a $35 million budget.
HEPA Purifier Program
Up to 125,000 residential customers may receive a $200 voucher to acquire a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) purifier device from a qualified vendor through the HEPA program. Distribution will begin with the lowest median income homes and scale up until depletion.
Electric Buses and Charging Infrastructure (EBCI) Program
The EBCI program hope to provide 80 zero-emissions, all-electric buses to St. Louis school districts. Additionally, the program aims for one charging station, with no fewer than two charging ports per electric bus. The new buses are conditional on decommissioning, selling, or donating an existing diesel bus per terms of the agreement unless a school district does not own or control a diesel bus. Buses from 2010 and older are to be scrapped or rendered inoperable. Newer buses, 2011 and younger, may be scrapped, sold, or donated.
If funding remains after outreach is complete for the HEPA program or at the end of 2026 for the EBCI program, the balance will move to a Weatherization and Energy Efficiency Project fund. That fund will support residential building investments in Ameren’s service area that prioritize low-income and disadvantaged communities. Projects would include insulation of floors, walls and attics, sealing of doors and ducts, and also passive solar retrofits.
The Federal Register will publish notice of settlement in a few days. A 30-day public comment period will follow. Afterwards, the Department of Justice will evaluate the remarks and decide whether to move for entry of the settlement.
Legal filings on December 18, 2024 include the joint notice, proposed remedy, and an exhibit showcasing distribution of air filter resources to residential customers.
Ameren will need a few years to complete these projects.