Missouri official: Nixon should drop suit over Taum Sauk collapse

ST. LOUIS -- Gov. Matt Blunt's administration called on Attorney General Jay Nixon Tuesday to drop a lawsuit against Ameren Corp. over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse.

Missouri Department of Natural Resources director Doyle Childers made the request in a letter he sent to Nixon's office. Childers outlined five conditions Nixon should meet to help move settlement talks forward so Ameren can pay the state for damage from the reservoir breach.

Along with dropping the lawsuit, Childers said Nixon should decide soon whether he will file criminal charges against Ameren over the collapse.

"Nixon's lawsuit and his threat of criminal charges have prevented the settlement from moving forward," Childers wrote in the letter.

Bill Bryan, Nixon's deputy chief of staff, responded to the letter late Tuesday, accusing Childers of hindering the settlement process.

Bryan said in a letter that he and Childers attended meetings recently during which they agreed on almost every point of a unified settlement offer to give Ameren.

"That is why your letter this morning is so troubling," Bryan wrote. "You were in the meetings and you know that your letter does not reflect the substance of those meetings or the agreement we had nearly reached. You know that your letter makes claims and assertions you never voiced in those meetings."

Bryan urged Childers to continue discussions with Nixon's office.

Ameren has been caught in the middle of legal sparring between DNR and Nixon's office. Both agencies want to recoup financial damages from the reservoir collapse, which sent 1 billion gallons of water over Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park that devastated the area and injured a family of five.

Ameren spokesman Tim Fox said the company would not comment on Childers' letter Tuesday.

"We look forward to working with all agencies on a unified settlement of these issues," Fox said in an e-mail.

Blunt supports Childers' demands, Blunt's spokesman Rich Chrismer said.

"The state is ready to settle. Ameren is ready to settle. And the only thing standing in the way of the settlement is the Attorney General," Chrismer said in an e-mail.

In December, DNR submitted a proposal to Ameren that the utility pay more than $125 million for the accident, including a $10 million fine that would be the largest in the agency's history.

Nixon filed the lawsuit against Ameren days later, seeking unspecified damages. The suit accuses Ameren of delaying critical repairs at the reservoir so managers could keep the facility running for the sake of profits.

Childers' told The Associated Press Tuesday he doesn't care if Nixon files criminal charges or not in the case. But Childers said Ameren won't go forward with any settlement until the issue of criminal charges is settled.

Childers also asked Nixon in his letter to explain whether his campaign solicited donations from Ameren after launching his criminal investigation; to support Blunt's plan to expand the Katy Trail as part of the settlement; and to drop a plan that would mandate that Ameren rebuilds the reservoir.