After the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Ameren as the source for two toxic chemicals found in St. Charles groundwater wells, the city is demanding the power company bear the cost for cleanup.
The city already had known the power company鈥檚 Huster Road Substation was the source of vinyl chloride and dichloroethene, which are and other negative health effects. These chemicals are byproducts of a cleaning solvent for heavy metal equipment called TCE (trichloroethylene), according to the EPA.
鈥淭here seemed to be a lot of bureaucratic witch hunting going on over the years to try and find someone else they can hang blame on besides Ameren,鈥� Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said.
City officials investigated all of the businesses in the Wellfield district and found none of them was contributing toxins except for Ameren, the mayor said. St. Charles has seven wells that produce 6 million gallons of water a day. Five of the seven wells are contaminated.
According to the EPA, the Elm Point Wellfield has been a Superfund site since the early 2000s when other companies polluted one of the wells. Cleanup was successful on that one groundwater source, but when a toxic plume started spreading in another aquifer in 2021, the city had to shut down more wells.
As a result, St. Charles buys 4 million gallons of water a day from St. Louis. 鈥淥ur water costs us 70 cents per 1,000 gallons to produce, and when we buy it from St. Louis, it鈥檚 $1.07,鈥� Borgmeyer said. Alone, this will cost a half-million dollars for the year if St. Charles has to continue getting water from St. Louis.
St. Charles is working to build new wellfields and bring in expensive equipment that will clean the water without Ameren鈥檚 help. Borgmeyer said St. Charles has the resources without taxing residents or increasing water rates for now, but that won鈥檛 continue forever.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait a year and a half for all the bureaucracy to work its way out. We need clean water now,鈥� Borgmeyer said. 鈥淪o we are moving forward to go back to what we had before Ameren polluted our water.鈥�
Residents are concerned about who is going to pay for the cleanup. St. Charles resident and environmental scientist Kristin Heideman believes the EPA hasn鈥檛 done its due diligence to provide proper oversight on Ameren.
鈥淭his has been going on for over 10 years. It鈥檚 not cleaned up yet because our government has dismantled and defunded the EPA,鈥� Heideman said. 鈥淲hy is the city having to front up money to get our wellfield fixed when it鈥檚 very clearly caused by another responsible party?鈥�
Heideman is proud St. Charles took quick action and shut down the wells before the toxins reached dangerous levels and the water treatment plant. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to know that I never had to be concerned about chemicals in my drinking water because the local government took a proactive approach,鈥� she said.
Ameren, which is involved in legal proceedings with the city over water cleanup costs, said only that it is to put a barrier between the power substation and the water supply. The power company is also taking steps that will further break up the toxins.
The EPA said that it will take years to clean up the groundwater and that there have been no detections of toxins in the city鈥檚 drinking water. Despite St Charles residents鈥� misgivings, the EPA plans to hold Ameren solely responsible for cleanup.
鈥淲e operate under the polluter pays principle,鈥� said EPA representative Ben Washburn. 鈥淎nd we believe that those who are responsible for contamination are liable for that cleanup.鈥�
