Dive Brief:

• A new report from the Missouri Department of Natural Resource finds Ameren's 2,400-MW Labadie coal facility is exceeding federal limits on sulfur dioxide emissions, but the utility has asked for more time to prove otherwise.
• According to Ameren, two new air monitors places around the plant show it in compliance with federal standards, though the debate may now swing to where those monitors are placed.
• The DNR report examines four areas potentially exceeding federal sulfur limits, but the finds three are likely in compliance and only Labadie will require intervention; recommendations on the four areas are due to federal regulators in September.

Dive Insight:

A Missouri report on sulfur dioxide emissions finds Ameren's Labadie coal facility is exceeding federal standards, but the debate could swing to where the air monitoring stations are located. The utility's own analysis shows the plant in compliance with federal standards, and Ameren is defending the location of the air monitors which produced those results.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Steve Whitworth, Ameren’s environmental services director, told the commission its emissions monitoring is better than their models: “We believe such modeling overestimates emissions.,” Whitworth said. “Monitoring is the most accurate method for determining air quality," he said.

But activists from the Sierra Club argue the utility placed air monitors in spots where it knew they would return findings of low emissions.

The monitors are “clearly not in the right place,” according to Maxine Lipeles, an attorney representing the environmental advocate. But according to Ameren’s Whitworth, the monitoring locations meet standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Missouri's report looks at four locations where sulfur dioxide pollution could exceed federal standards, but finds two locations are in compliance and a third is likely to comply once new data is in. Only the Labadie facility seems to be producing emissions likely to require pollution control.

In 2002, according to the DNR report, the Labadie facility emitted 42,236 tons of sulfur dioxide.

The report considers a second option, however. Rather than a finding of "non-atttainment," the area including portions of Franklin and St. Charles counties could be considered "unclassifiable" based on Ameren's new data. This is the solution favored by Ameren, the Post-Dispatch reports.