Big Production Value
Even when I'm in Lesterville I don't get KSDK and I'll be in Springfield, so how about some of you adding a comment to this post next Wednesday about this program.
AmerenUE Sponsors KSDK-TV , Channel 5 Special Presentation: “A New Beginning…Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park ” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12
Program Offers Full Story on What Happened to Missouri’s Popular Park After Breach at AmerenUE Taum Sauk Plant Upper Reservoir Released A Billion Gallons of Water-- Sending Trees, Boulders, Silt, Debris Down a Mountain into Park
posted by staff @ 3:50 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
You really didn't miss anything, and it's about what you would expect. I was a little surprised to see the Reynolds county Sheriff speaking glowingly of Ameren's training of the emergency response team.
They downplayed the fact that engineers had warned company executives about the potential problems at the dam.
They said nothing about the concerns of many about the rebuild plans. Nothing about the meetings or police report.
St. Louis Today has a talk thread on this.
I thought the program was long on "see all the nice things we have done since the reservoir break", but very little was said about why it happened. The why is really the meat of the matter.
Lee, if not for the work you have done digging out the facts, I would have come away with the impression that the reservoir failed for no apparent reason.
I guess it was just about what I expected.
I watched the 1/2 hour mockumentary.
After about two minutes, Foss said the Shut-ins were made of granite, and that was the accuracy level of most of the broad-swath paint-over job. Prior to the airing, Doyle Childers was on KSDK 6 p.m news via phone call, explaining how he had only seen a rough cut of the production, and how DNR had not vetted the final cut, and, by the way, the cleanup wasn't over, nor were recovery plans finalized.
The video was quite convincingly done, but the show's writing glossed over quite a bit of the nitty gritty, leaving the impression that everything was hunky-dory at the park now, and that there were only a few loose ends to tie up after Ameren dumped $40 million in park restoration.
I was underimpressed by Ms. Foss. The Ameren and Mactec employees who were interviewed on camera did more to lend credibility to the production, especially the fellow who said, "We take responsibility for this disaster."
Interestingly, in the final credits, Ameren said thanked Childers.
At the end, Tom Voss came on, looking directly at the camera, and explained how things were different now, how Ameren really cared about the Toops, the local people, its customers and safety, and yes, they were definitely going to rebuild. However, there were no details on how the engineering would be done -- quite unlike the technical detail with which the original plant was introduced in 1963. Even Redi-Kilowatt made a better impression in the early 1960s PR film which they used to show at the UE Visitor's Center and Museum. (Wasn't in the video, but I remember it quite clearly.)
You know, Lee, I bet if you asked really nicely, Ameren would send you a copy of the video.
You can see some of the video here;
http://www.ameren.com/taumsauk/
Rocketman
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