Last week, we reported that Ameren was conducting limited groundwater testing near its coal-fired power plant in Labadie.
The results of that testing are now posted in a report on the company’s website. According to that report, levels of boron, arsenic, and other contaminants from three sampling wells were all below regulatory health limits.
Labadie Environmental Organization president Patricia Schuba says her group has not yet had time to review those results.
“But what I can say is that the one well that I'm aware of is quite a distance from the landfill site and quite a distance from the ponds that have been known to be leaking for 20 years,” Schuba said.
Schuba says if Ameren is serious about identifying groundwater contamination it should sample closer to its coal ash ponds.
Her organization is suing to try to keep Ameren from building a new, 400-acre coal ash landfill in Labadie.
Golder Associates Inc., an environmental consulting company, conducted the sampling.
In a cover letter to Ameren that accompanies the testing results, Golder states the following:
"Boron concentrations were below detection limits in all three samples, indicating that groundwater at the three monitoring points is not affected by leachate from coal combustion products. Other inorganic constituents were detected; however, concentrations of the other constituents were lower than the Missouri and federal drinking water standards. It is not uncommon to detect low levels of inorganic constituents in uncontaminated groundwater samples because these elements are often naturally present in the soils and rocks that are in contact with the groundwater."
An Ameren spokesperson was not available for comment.
