Power company to pay state $1.3 mil

AmerenUE will pay the state of Missouri $1.3 million after thousands of fish died at Bagnell Dam on the Lake of the Ozarks. Approximately 43,000 fish were killed in May and June 2002 by the dam’s turbine generators as AmerenUE released large amounts of water to keep the lake level down after heavy rains.

“Many of the fish killed by the turbines three years ago were paddlefish stocked in the lake at no small expense by the Missouri Department of Conservation,” Nixon said in a news release. “This court order and the companion agreements will provide restitution to the state for the fish and require AmerenUE to take significant steps to ensure that this type of fish kill does not occur again.”

Under the court order, $1 million will go to the Conservation Commission Fund and the remaining $300,000 will go to the Natural Resources Protection Fund.

In addition to the money paid to the state, AmerenUE will provide a barrier net upstream of the plant intake structure at the dam. The 100-foot-deep, 1,100-foot-long structure would isolate fish from the plant water intakes so fish could not pass into these structures.

AmerenUE also will be required to pay $134,000 annually to the Department of Conservation for fish stocking, with the amount to be adjusted each year for inflation; pay $2.1 million as mitigation for impact to the Missouri Division of State Parks and Historic Sites to address erosion and develop a satellite law enforcement center in Lake of the Ozarks State Park; install new turbines that will more efficiently generate electricity and help improve water quality; receive new water quality certification from the Department of Natural Resources that will require the dam to meet water quality standards for dissolved oxygen, which can negatively impact aquatic life; and pay $175,000 annually, to be adjusted each year for inflation, for activities under the Endangered Species Act, at the direction of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Under an accompanying settlement agreement between the attorney general, the Department of Conservation and AmerenUE, the Department of Conservation will dismiss its lawsuit against AmerenUE.

AmerenUE, founded in 1902 as Union Electric Company, operates nine power plants in Missouri. The company provides energy services to 1.2 million electric customers in eastern Missouri, including the St. Louis area, and 130,000 natural gas customers. AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corp., (NYSE: AEE) which closed at the end of business May 24 at $53.29 per share.