PSC denies request to halt hearings

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State utility regulators have denied a request by Ameren Corp. to halt their investigation into the 2005 collapse of its Taum Sauk reservoir and instead plan to forge ahead with another round of hearings.

The Missouri Public Service Commission scheduled more investigatory hearings beginning next Monday and continuing through Aug. 17 if necessary. The commission already has heard from several witnesses in hearings that have spanned parts of two weeks.

The PSC said it would be unreasonable to close its investigatory proceedings, as Ameren had sought.

The December 2005 failure of Ameren's hydroelectric plant reservoir in Southeast Missouri sent more than 1 billion gallons of water down a mountainside, wiping out Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and seriously injuring the park superintendent's family.

Ameren agreed last year to pay $15 million in a settlement to a separate investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates the plant.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol also investigated the reservoir collapse, releasing a roughly 2,000-page report this spring. The patrol found no evidence of a crime, and Attorney General Jay Nixon decided to pursue only civil -- not criminal -- penalties against Ameren. That case is still pending in court.

The PSC initiated its hearings after the Highway Patrol report was publicly released, saying the report raised additional questions about the accident.