Pea Green Soup

The river is pea green after 3 inches of rain over that last 6 days. This is the first time that it has looked bad since last spring. I don't know what this rain has done to the work at the Lower Reservoir, but I'm sure that all the sediment is coming down the East Fork. Wilderness Lodge and the Ice Cream Parlor closed for the winter yesterday, so Lesterville is really quiet right now. If Ameren makes an announcement in November as was indicated in some earlier documents maybe we'll see some extra activity over the winter.

Work at the Reservoir

This is from a letter that FERC sent to Ameren.

Test Program to Remove Certain Interior Concrete Face Panels

We have received and reviewed the above referenced submittal for the test program to remove certain interior concrete face panels. Our review did not find any significant deficiencies or errors that would affect the safety of the project structures or the adequacy of project works to perform their intended function. You may proceed with the work.

I assume that this means that Ameren is pulling down some of the concrete panels that lined the Upper Reservoir.

Who is Looking Out For Lesterville?

I was checking my email one last time before packing for my trip to Iowa when I found this article.
DNR has hired a KC law firm to work on the Ameren settlement. Why is this so disturbing, well I've been told that Ameren is not going to start working on the 5 million FERC program until the company settles with the State. In the FERC agreement Ameren has until December 31, 2007 to spend the 5 million on "project enhancements" and if they don't spend the money they have to turn it over to the Feds. That means that there is only 14 months to work out the "project enhancements", but if you wait for the KC lawyers to collect their $$$ how much time do you think will be left. I admit, except for the bad PR, it probably would be easier for Ameren to just wait and pay the Feds another 5 million, rather than deal with all the different ideas about how to spend the money locally. Remember, I said it was going to be a fun winter.

Loose Ends

First, Pam and I are going to Des Moines for a few days. We have not been back to Iowa for at least 12 years. So the Pottery and Store will be closed this weekend and I will not be making any posts until next Tuesday.

I found a link to a DNR permit to allow Ameren to build and operate a concrete mixing plant on the Taum Sauk property. Still wish that DNR and Ameren would take advantage of the net and provide timely information about the work at Taum Sauk and the Shut-Ins. DNR has not provided any information since the park closed and the last Ameren news was the FERC fine on October 2. Both these organizations should continue to provide news, both good and bad, in the same manner that they did last spring. The one thing that is missing is a single person or office that can operate as a liaison between the public and DNR and Ameren. Lesterville is not a city so it does not have a mayor. The Reynolds County leaders in Centerville have never been concerned about the event, except as it affected roads and bridges. So we sit out here in the quiet of the winter season and listen to all the unfounded rumors.

Doug in Memphis

Just received some more photos of the Memphis fountain from Walt Hull, a blacksmith in Lawrence, Kansas. So here is old "Dr. Iron" with thoughts spraying from his head.

For the Cardinals Fans

Two years ago our son, Jason, produced a documentary for Public Television about "The Original Springfield Cardinals". Today in the Springfield News-Leader there was an article about the 1941 Springfield Cardinals and the St. Louis Cardinals. If you are a a big fan you might find this interesting.

The Memphis Fountain

For those of you that have been customers and friends of Peola Valley Pottery and Forge here is a link that will take you to a lot of photos of Doug's new fountain at the National Metals Museum in Memphis. Click on the Repair Days 2006 Pictures link on the home page. There are a lot of photos of this event and Doug and his fountain are on the 2nd and 3rd page of photos. There is a large arrow (triangle) on the right side of the smaller photos that will take you to the next page of photos. It's probably not worth the effort if you don't have broadband. Took forever to see them last night here in "slowville".

National Metals Museum

What's This?

This is the title of a classified document that Ameren sent to FERC.

Ameren Services Co submits a Board of Consultant Report on the URS/Rimkus Proposal to repair the breach with compacted rockfill etc for the Taum Sauk Plant

Rimkus

URS

If there was ever a time when things should be transparent it's now.

Here's An Idea

I imagine that a lot of you that read this blog don't read all the comments. With that in mind here is a quote from a comment posted recently about the Ameren fine $$ and how to spend some of it.

Already lots of geology students come every spring and go see Taum Sauk, Silver Mines, and Johnson's Shutins. Lots of these kids are really engineering students taking geology because they get to go on cool field trips.

They need to build an Engineering Disaster Museum. Ideally build it within walking distance of the actual destruction. It would feature exhibits on how they managed to pump the water over the reservoir wall and then also have exhibits about other engineering screwups like the Teton dam, New Orleans levees, etc etc.

I think combined with the geology, it would attract a lot people (money) and maybe help the engineers of the future not be screwups.

Since reading the text of the FERC agreement I have always assumed that some of the $$ would be spent on the little museum up at the Taum Sauk site. I was last in that museum in the spring of 2005 and it was pretty sad how the 1965 exhibits looked after 30 years.

Not Much News

We had three inches of rain on Monday, which we really needed. Since the ground is so dry the river only came up a few inches. The only other news I found is that Ameren declaired a 63.5 cent dividend for the quarter. Since they have 205 million shares outstanding you can see that with all their problems in the news they are still doing just fine.

Your From Rural Missouri If

Everyone you know has been on a "Float Trip."

You measure distance in minutes rather than miles.

Down south to you means Arkansas.

You know several people who have hit a deer.

You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

The local paper covers national and
international headlines on one page, but requires six pages for sports.

You think a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.

You know what "HOME OF THE THROWED ROLL" means.

You've said, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

You think that "deer season" is a National Holiday

Brrrr!!!

It's 21 degrees this morning in Peola Valley. If your coming down for the last weekend at BRL its supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow morning, but I'll bet it's still below freezing. But today and tomorrow are going to be sunny. Not as much color in the hills as past years.

A Treasure is Back

Those of you that have read this blog since the beginning will remember the great writing and wonderful photos of Shelley Powers on her blog "Burningbird". Some months ago she said that she was going to stop her blog and do other things. Tonight while searching for something else I saw a reference to Shelley and when I clicked it I found a new blog. So check out her comments and photos about a visit to the Shut-Ins on the last weekend it was open. Welcome back Shelley!

Conflicting Claims and Interests

I attended a meeting of the River Valley District last night in Arcadia. This is an organization that is trying to bring the interest of the tourist business in Lesterville and those in Arcadia Valley, Calidonia, and Annapolis together.

One person asked when Ameren was going to start the process of spending the FERC fine money and who was going to benefit. We also have the Missouri settlement with Ameren to look forward to. Gov. Blunt keeps talking about how all the citizens of Missouri suffered a loss because of what happened to the Shut-Ins. I'm not sure what percentage of the citizens even know what the Shut-Ins are, much less where in the state they are located. I was surprised this summer at how few people expressed any sense of loss. Most people had two comments, they wanted to know if the rocks in the actual shut-in were OK and they thought it was a miricle that the superintends family survived.

I bring this up because of the following link. There is a push to get some land that Ameren ownes near Kansas City to help complete the Katy Trail. I doubt that many folks in the River Valley area care much about this and if it dilutes the effort to restore the tourism business here it will not be received kindly. While I have written that the pottery did just fine this past summer, the more I talk with other businesses the more I hear how tough this past summer was. I talked with one B & B owner that felt that they spent an additional $20,000 to attract the same business as 2005. So many folks are still hot under the collar about the events of last December. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Doug

This past Saturday about 75 people from Lesterville and Ironton gathered at Peola Valley to help Doug "Dr. Iron" Hendrickson celebrate his 68th birthday. The highlight of the evening was the burning of a seven foot hollow log that had been carved with an anvil and DOUG.

Taum Sauk II

The following is from a letter FERC sent to Ameren on September 28.

We have received and reviewed the above referenced submittal for the RCC test
pad program. As part of the on-site, full-scale, RCC test pad program, an aggregate
crushing plant was to have been mobilized to the site. You are proposing to utilize an
off-site location for crushing rock material from the existing embankment, and then
mixing the aggregate, cement, and flyash in a pugmill mixing plant which will be erected
on-site. In the interest of maintaining the existing aggressive schedule for the project, we
have no objections to the plan. Please obtain and provide the BOC's concurrence with
the proposal.

As I read this Ameren is going to "pour" a test wall (pad) of the new dam design. They are using rock from the old dam as aggregate for the concrete mix. I was very interested in the use of the phrase "existing aggressive schedule" in this quote.

Every time we drive to Farmington there are trucks with low boy trailers hauling heavy equipment towards Lesterville. I can only think of one place that they might be going.

Taum Sauk $$$

Here is a quote from a long article about the Ameren fine in the Park Hills paper.

Thus far, Ameren has spent $44 million on cleanup. The company has reimbursed the state $1.1 million for costs incurred as a result of the breach, and has spent $17.5 million on legal costs, property claims and commercial business losses, Ameren spokesman Mike Cleary said on Monday. Final cost for cleanup - not including fines, rebuilding or decommissioning of the plant - are estimated to reach $73 million, he added.

Quality of Life

In the Taum Sauk Fine Agreement it talks about funding the following - enhancing economic development and quality of life for persons residing near the Taum Sauk project .

I would like to propose that Ameren provide the network to High Speed Internet Access for those people residing within 15 miles (or more) of the resrevoir. This would allow individuals and businesses to participate in the internet economy and would improve the quality of life and the educational oppertunities for all those living near the Taum Sauk project. I'm not talking about free internet, I would just like for Ameren to provide the network as part of this agreement. I think this would have a greater long term impact on the local economy than any other project.

Everybody Has An Opinion

Here is a link to an article explaining Missouri's position on the Taum Sauk fine. I can see a real feeding frenzy developing here. How about all my readers submitting ideas for how $5 mil could be spent to improve the quality of life of Lesterville residents and how about improved recreational facilities.

How about free beer at Lenny's and a ATV park!

This is going to be a fun winter afterall.

More Stuff of Interest

Here is another part of the "ORDER" that I found interesting.

All proposals and plans for all project enhancements funded by the escrow account must be submitted to Commission staff for review and approval, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, and each approved project enhancement must be timely completed to the satisfaction of Commission staff, irrespective of whether the final costs exceed $5 million. In the event AmerenUE does not complete the project enhancements by the earlier of (i) December 31, 2007 or (ii) completion of the reconstruction of the Taum Sauk upper reservoir, AmerenUE will pay the amounts remaining in the escrow account as an additional civil penalty to the United States Treasury.

Taum Sauk Fine

Ameren is to pay $10,000,000 to the US Treasury and deposit $5,000,000 in an escrow account to fund the following.

Other project enhancements will be directed toward some or all of the following purposes: (1) enhancing economic development and quality of life for persons residing near the Taum Sauk project; (2) protecting and enhancing environmental resources, including animal habitats, at or near the project; and (3) ensuring and promoting educational and recreational opportunities at or near the project, including access to such opportunities for disabled persons.

It will be interesting to see what all this means to Lesterville once the money is spent.

Link to the Ameren press release.

Link to FERC site. Click on the Order link near the top of the page to read the details

Big Fine

Here is a short article about the fine that Ameren will pay to FERC for the Taum Sauk event. I'm sure there will be more about this tomorrow.

Taum Sauk and/or Church Mt. ?

Here is a link to an excellent article about rebuiding Taum Sauk or starting fresh on Church Mt. While I think that most locals are in favor of rebuilding Taum Sauk I think that most local folks would oppose Church Mt. as a site for a new upper reservoir.

High Tech Missouri?

The following article in the Springfield News-Leader caught my attention this morning. When I moved to Lesterville in 1983 the TV cable stopped at Ebert's Garage on Peola Road, one and a half miles from my home. That is where it stops today. There is no DSL or Cable connections in Reynolds County as far as I know. Camp Taum Sauk installed "Wild Blue" this summer, this is a satillite internet service, not as fast as Broadband and much more expensive. I don't see any leadership in Missouri from either the Governor or the Legislature to see that rural Missouri is fully connected at high speeds to the rest of the world. Some of the rural schools have a high speed land line, but I don't see that it has made much difference in the quality of students. As someone that moved here from another state I have always found Missouri a hard place to figure out.