Nixon preparing Ameren suit

~ He refused to say whether the suit would be civil or criminal.

ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said Thursday he is preparing a lawsuit against Ameren Corp. for its operations at the Taum Sauk reservoir before it collapsed in December.

The St. Louis-based utility emphasized profits over safety at the Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant and delayed critical repairs for months before the collapse to maximize income, Nixon said.

"It's just so apparent and clear to us that there was an accelerated use of this facility for economic reasons and there was a clear pattern of corporate incentives for profit, not so much a corporate culture to shut it down and fix it," Nixon said.

Ameren refused to comment. Earlier this month, Nixon said he was a month or more away from legal action against the company. Pressed again Thursday for a timetable, Nixon said he was still preparing his case. He refused to say whether the suit would be civil or criminal.

"Until we actually see a suit of any sort we can't comment on anything," said spokeswoman Erica Abbett.

An Associated Press investigation revealed last week that Ameren's companywide incentive system for plant managers pays out 60 percent of annual operating bonuses for generating profits, meeting budget and keeping plants open. Twenty percent is given for safety issues like avoiding lost-time accidents. The remaining 20 percent is tied to pollution control.

Nixon said the incentive policy is now a focus of his investigation.

Ameren operates more than two dozen power plants, including a nuclear plant, and provides electricity for about 2.4 million customers in Missouri and Illinois.

The mountaintop Taum Sauk reservoir breached before dawn Dec. 14, sending more than 1 billion gallons of water rushing through Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and injuring a family of five. The Southeast Missouri park was empty other than the family of superintendent Jerry Toops, who lived there.

"We are approaching this with the seriousness that would be applied if this had happened on the Fourth of July when there were 1,500 people in the park," Nixon said. He is pursuing both civil and criminal cases but declined to say which type might be filed.

Ameren has denied profits played a role in management's decision to delay repairs at the reservoir.

The Taum Sauk reservoir was built in 1963 and intended to be used about 100 days a year as a backup energy source, according to documents from the time. But over the years, the facility emerged as a more frequently used energy source that could generate quick profits, according to interviews and internal documents.