On Dec. 14, 2005, the dam at the Taum Sauk reservoir burst. The break sent more than 1 billion gallons of water crashing into Johnson鈥檚 Shut-Ins State Park, wreaking destruction on a statewide destination for nature lovers.
After the disaster, a different kind of flood followed: In 2007, $7 million in state aid was supposed to flow into Iron County and Reynolds County to revitalize the areas damaged in the disaster. Iron County鈥檚 fund, managed by the Iron County Economic Partnership, had roughly $3 million to work with. Today, that fund is only about $165,000, with little to show for it.
Where did the money go?
鈥淢ost of it in the past year went to businesses that were controlled, or are controlled, by people who had connections to the board,鈥� said Tony Messenger, a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Messenger joined Thursday鈥檚 St. Louis on the Air to discuss his .
Messenger found that the Iron County Economic Partnership has run through much of the recovery fund, with several six-figure disbursements for projects going to groups closely tied to the partnership鈥檚 members. Although the fund was intended to revitalize the area,
鈥淲hen insiders are taking money that was put in there by the state to benefit the entire community, and they're using it to benefit themselves? That's just really offensive to me. And that's what really drew me to the story,鈥� Messenger said.
Scrutiny of the Iron County recovery fund isn鈥檛 new. Erich Jett was hired by the partnership in 2015 as a consultant. He later became a whistleblower 鈥� and a key source in Messenger鈥檚 investigation 鈥� because of the way money flowed out of the fund.
鈥淸The fund] was supposed to get money to the people who suffered losses after the catastrophe,鈥� Jett told St. Louis on the Air.
鈥淪omewhere, there has to be justice for all this. Somehow, we have to get that fund replenished,鈥� Jett added. 鈥漌e got to find somebody willing to take on this case. The attorney general's office does not have an interest in it, the IRS in the past has not had an interest in it. So we have to go beyond that and take action on our own.鈥�
To hear more from the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 Tony Messenger and Erich Jett about the Taum Sauk Fund, including what happened after a local sheriff got involved, listen to St. Louis on the Air on , or or by clicking the play button below.
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . is our production assistant. The audio engineer is . Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
