News Release 556

TAUM SAUK SETTLEMENT MOVES TO REYNOLDS COUNTY

Environmental, recreational benefits depend on final action by Reynolds County Circuit Court

Volume 35-556

Contact: Connie Patterson

(For immediate release)

573-751-1010

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 28, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources today questioned whether the Attorney General can hold together the long-awaited settlement agreement on the Taum Sauk Reservoir breach.

"The main question is if Missouri citizens will receive the benefit of the settlement hammered out by the departments of Natural Resources, Conservation and Ameren," said Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers. "Will the community and schools in Reynolds County and the citizens of the state receive the benefits that the Department of Natural Resources demanded and Ameren agreed to? We certainly hope so."

Childers hopes the settlement marks a clarification of the responsibilities that Ameren accepted to compensate Missouri citizens for the Taum Sauk reservoir breach, which occurred on Dec. 14, 2005.

"In all these discussions, we need to remember this was not an act of God or an accident but Ameren's actions that destroyed Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park," Childers said.

Settlement numbers were not pulled out of a hat, Childers said. The Department of Natural Resources brought in Industrial Economics, a nationally recognized expert in Natural Resource Damages claims. The company determined the extent of the damage to the natural and recreational resources caused by the breach, which allowed 1.3 billion gallons of water to roar down Proffit Mountain and through Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.

Childers said he believes the extension of the Katy Trail to Kansas City, the development of the new Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park, the almost $118 million payments to the Reynolds County area, the $5 million required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the funds to develop and maintain Missouri's state parks system balance the damages to Missouri citizens and to the citizens of the Johnson's Shut-Ins region in a fair and equitable manner.

"The settlement has been long and contentious and has delayed the opening and rebuild of the park likely into 2009," Childers said. "But, we are hopeful that we will soon be able to more forward with a positive, coordinated plan to complete the construction and get the park open for visitors."

This summer, almost 45,000 people visited Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park, which was partially open for the season.

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