The Sierra Club Hosts A HAZMAT Beauty Contest

Ameren Missouri's Meramec and Sioux plants were crowned "Mister and Miss Toxic Water" by members of the Missouri Sierra Club on Tuesday. The group's mock beauty pageant (which included a HAZMAT swimsuit competition) coincides with the release of a report from the Sierra Club, Environmental Justice and Environmental Integrity Project that highlights coal pollution in public waterways.

Sixteen out of 18 Missouri coal plants have no limits on what they can dump into waters, including mercury, arsenic and lead, according to Missouri Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign organizer Sara Edgar. The Labadie plant was recognized as one of the worst toxic polluters in the country, she said.

Sierra Club members want to see updated, stronger laws controlling what coal plants can emit.

The beauty pageant, which was held on the Missouri riverfront near the Gateway Arch, is representative of their plight. 

"You wouldn't be able to have a regular swimsuit competition here," Edgar said.

Learn more about the report's findings on Patch.

According to Ameren, "the evidence does not support claims regarding pollution in Missouri waterways, and there is no threat to public health."

"We meet and in fact operate well below all applicable state and federal water effluent limitations that are fully protective of health. Ameren has a strong environmental compliance program, and we take this commitment very seriously. We are confident we will be able to comply with the effluent guidelines that are expected to come from the EPA," the company said in a statement.