Attorney General's News Release

August 29, 2001

Nixon fights to protect Church Mountain

Jefferson City, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon today launched the first step in a legal battle to oppose a proposal by Ameren Corp. to build a $642 million hydroelectric power plant at Church Mountain, in the St. Francois range of the Ozark Mountains in Reynolds County.

In a motion to intervene filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nixon urged the commission to deny the preliminary permit application. He outlined the state's objections, noting the proposal requires cutting off the top of Church Mountain for a reservoir and damming a stream classified by the Missouri Clean Water Commission as one of Missouri's outstanding water resources.

The proposed plant, with two massive dams, would be located just south of Taum Sauk Mountain — the state's highest peak at 1,772 feet — and would flood parts of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park.

"Rest assured I will not sit on the sidelines while a proposal to decapitate a mountain in one of the Ozarks' most scenic and beloved landscapes winds its way through the permitting process," Nixon said. "This is just the first step in what may be a long battle to protect portions of Missouri's most cherished landscapes."

Nixon also expressed concern that the plant will use more energy to operate than it will generate. The proposed hydro station operates by pumping water up the mountain to a reservoir during off-peak hours when power is cheaper, and releasing to a lower reservoir during peak demand times when power can be sold at higher prices. The project is expected to be 80 percent efficient, generating eight megawatts for every 10 megawatts it uses to pump the water up the mountain.

Nixon's filing notes that the company has failed to disclose information that would demonstrate whether Ameren customers would even be served by the project.

"This is too big a sacrifice for a project that may not even increase energy supplies for the state of Missouri," Nixon said Ameren's proposals to build two dams — one 12,000 feet long and 90 feet high on top of the mountain and a second dam 1,900 feet long and 100 feet high across Taum Sauk Creek — would flood portions of the Taum Sauk valley, including portions of Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, the historic Taum Sauk Boy Scout Trail and the trail between Taum Sauk Mountain and Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park, one of the state's most popular recreation areas. The proposed power plant would be visible from Taum Sauk Mountain and from many of the unspoiled vistas of Missouri's popular Ozark Trail.

The project would require the damming of Taum Sauk Creek, a crystal-clear creek designated as an "outstanding state resource water" and would also destroy portions of the 7,028-acre St. Francois Mountains Natural Area, which preserves one of the state's greatest concentrations of native plants and wildlife, including species listed by the federal government as endangered.

"The state has made a substantial investment in preservation in this area," Nixon said. "Local landowners throughout the history of this region have recognized the beauty and ecological and geological significance of the land and have donated parcels of land to the state for protection. A proposal of this radical nature would violate the trust of the people and would be contrary to the best interest of all who love to hike and explore one of the last unspoiled areas of our state."

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

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