Taum Sauk disaster could aid cleanup of Doe Run lead pollution

ST. LOUIS -- State officials want two St. Louis companies to use tons of soil from the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse to help reduce a long-standing pollution problem from lead mining in Southeast Missouri.

The plan could take two environmental problems and make one solution, Missouri Department of Natural Resources deputy director Kurt Schaefer said Wednesday.

On the end of the equation is soil the DNR is helping utility company Ameren Corp. remove from the Taum Sauk reservoir, which collapsed in December. On the other end are a number of nearby sites of "lead tailings" left behind by Doe Run Co. that must be covered to prevent the lead from spreading.

"Cover material in that part of the state is very difficult to come by," Schaefer said. "This is truly an opportunity to make lemonade from lemons left behind by the Taum Sauk disaster."

If the soil is not taken to Doe Run sites, Ameren will likely pile it on land the utility owns near the Taum Sauk reservoir, Schaefer said.

The DNR cannot mandate either company to comply with the plan, and both companies say they are considering it.

" ... we really haven't had time to make a judgment on whether it would work for us or not," Ameren spokesman Tim Fox said in an e-mail.

Doe Run spokeswoman Barb Shepard said the company is assessing the proposal.

"We're happy to take a look at this kind of thing and we'll continue discussions with DNR and Ameren," she said.

Massive amounts of soil have already been moved during the cleanup effort at the Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant. The mountaintop lake collapsed in December, burying vast tracts of the nearby Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park under clay and mud.

Crews have nearly emptied the lower reservoir of the plant, where much of the debris collected after December's flood, said Randy Crawford, a DNR water quality supervisor.

Crawford said roughly 800 acre-feet of soil will be removed from the lower reservoir -- which is enough soil to cover 800 acres with one foot of dirt.

Local business owners have pushed for a speedy cleanup of the lower reservoir because it has been spilling cloudy water into the Black River, which was popular for float trips because of its clear depths.

Crawford said the lower reservoir could be dredged within two months, but wet weather could push completion back until next spring.

Doe Run is also under a deadline to clean up some of its tailing sites.

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered the company to stabilize 150 acres of lead-contaminated mine waste at a site near Park Hills to prevent erosion. It will cost an estimated $17 million to stabilize the waste by covering it and restricting public access.

Doe Run and other parties will have three years to complete the stabilization.

Schaefer said Doe Run or Ameren would have to pay transportation costs for moving the soil. Ameren is already paying the entire bill for cleaning up Johnson's Shut-Ins and other areas damaged by the reservoir collapse.