Hundreds of St. Charles residents pour into EPA, demand an immediate fix to contamination in water system
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A standing room only crowd of close to 400 St. Charles residents crammed into the Memorial Hall in Blanchette Park to hear the EPA report on contaminants in the city of St. Charles’ water system, Thursday.
The Findett/Huster Road substation site is about five acres along the Mississippi Flood plain. It’s a superfund site, meaning federal dollars are used to maintain it.
It is standing room only in St. Charles tonight to talk about water contamination in @SaintCharlesMo. Hundreds of concerned residents.
— David Amelotti (@DavidAmelottiTV) November 17, 2022
This is the @EPA’s meeting on the Findett/Huster Road Substation site. Data for contamination as recent as 2021z @KMOV pic.twitter.com/udL7PZaiOB
The EPA was stern that the MCL – maximum contaminant level – contaminant levels at and below the MCL are protective of human health – established under Safe Drinking Water Act. Simply, this agency says the water is safe to drink.
The EPA has been investigating this groundwater since 2001.
In 2012, EPA order with Ameren to address contamination. Then from 2014-2018, Ameren conducted four pilot studies that used several cleanup technologies.
Missouri DNR tells the crowd that @SaintCharlesMo is providing water that complies with all Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. @KMOV pic.twitter.com/S8hqtJmkzq
— David Amelotti (@DavidAmelottiTV) November 18, 2022
Kara Elms, with City of St. Charles Clean Water Advocates told News 4 the evidence seems to point to Ameren Missouri having to take ownership and pay the bill.
“People in the community are concerned the EPA isn’t providing answers we want,” Elms explained. “What are we going to do to hold Ameren accountable, what are they going to do to cleanup their pollution?”
“We found out the contamination is spreading, we found out the EPA is on top of it,” concerned resident Louis Stamm shared. “But so what? Let’s stop it now. How long has this been going on? 20, 30 years? I appreciate the effort but the time is now to stop it.”
The EPA said Ameren has been sampling well six every two weeks since January this year. It shows some contamination has increased but not in the drinking water. The city of St. Charles disagreed with that during Thursday’s public meeting, stating it did its independent study, found contaminants, and that’s why four of the city’s seven wells are currently shut off.
On October 26th, News 4 reported St. Charles officials held a press conference on increased levels of contamination in their water wells. The city said four of its seven water wells are not operational because of unsafe levels of cis-1 and 2-dichloroethene. These chemicals make up a solvent used for things like metal cleaning.
No one from Ameren Missouri was available to speak on camera, Thursday. A spokesperson shared this statement with News 4: “We appreciate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hosting tonight’s forum providing answers to the community’s questions and sharing additional information.
It is reassuring to know that the EPA says drinking water in the City of St. Charles and surrounding communities is safe. We also agree with the EPA that more testing and analysis is needed. As everyone heard tonight, the source of the chemical detected at City Well 6 is unknown. Ameren Missouri strongly supports additional EPA-directed testing in the area this year with the cooperation of all parties to determine the source. For many years, Ameren Missouri, the City of St. Charles, the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources have worked collaboratively on this issue. We intend to continue to do so.” AmerenMissouri.com/StCharles.
Ameren Missouri also encourages concerned residents to visit its website for additional information.
People are literally streaming into the Memorial Hall at Blnchette Park tonight. Rough estimate of 300 people plus inside. They continue to roll in extra chairs. Doesn’t seem to be enough. @KMOV @SaintCharlesMo @EPA @AmerenMissouri pic.twitter.com/w15zdPl1fz
— David Amelotti (@DavidAmelottiTV) November 18, 2022
The City of St. Charles responded with the following statement:
“Recently it has been stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) that the City of Saint Charles has denied access to City property for field work to be conducted within the Elm Point Wellfield. The City of Saint Charles would like to provide the facts surrounding this issue.
“The City of St. Charles has not denied access to the USEPA for conducting an investigation of contaminants near drinking water well CW-6. City staff was not included in the initial notification of work being scheduled by the USEPA. It was only through the City’s outside environmental consultant that the City of St. Charles found out that a contractor had been hired by the USEPA and that contractor, Tetra Tech was planning to be on site the following Monday, just three days later. This came as quite a shock to the City, as the USEPA in a meeting on November 17, 2022 with the City of St. Charles, stated that their next steps toward investigating the contamination was to schedule a meeting with the City of St Charles and work collaboratively to achieve a schedule that would allow for a contractor on site in a timely fashion. That meeting never happened. When the City learned of USEPA’s intentions to start work December 5, 2022 a request for an access agreement was immediately sent to the USEPA and TetraTech (USEPA contractor) by the City on December 2, 2022. This agreement is a requirement for any business or entity performing work on the City of St. Charles property and a standard practice for any contractor performing environmental investigation activities. A timely review and execution of a standard access agreement along with providing a certificate of insurance naming the City of St. Charles as an additional insured should not have delayed the USEPA’s contractor from proceeding with the limited investigation during the weeks of December 5 and 12, 2022. It is the City’s understanding that there is additional work to be performed on property not owned by the City of St. Charles that could have proceeded in advance of the work to be performed on the City’s property - thus allowing the contractor more time to review the standard access agreement and obtain the insurance certificate. In addition, it is unclear why TetraTech and the USEPA selected a drilling contractor located in Gladstone, Missouri more than four hours away from the City of St. Charles. There are numerous qualified drilling contractors located near the City of St. Charles that could have been contracted to conduct this limited subsurface investigation.
“The insurance requirements contained in the City’s access agreement are standard limitations used by the City for its third contractors that are important to protect and shield the City’s taxpayers from potential liability. The City received a response from the USEPA indicating that it would be impossible for their contractor to meet the conditions of our standard access agreement on a short-term notice, and as a direct result, the USEPA decided to delay the field work until January of 2023.”
Moving forward, the EPA said it’s working with a contractor to assemble a work plan that involves more testing to locate the source of contamination. This plan should be reviewed with city leaders in the next two weeks. The EPA said it does not know the source, but the City of St. Charles stands by its belief that Ameren Missouri is responsible.
The City of St. Charles will now host two public meetings. They will both take place on Monday at 3PM and 6PM inside the Foundry Art Center on the north end of Main Street.
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