Mehlville Parent: No to Coal Ash Landfill Near Elementary School

One resident hoping to prevent Ameren from building a coal ash landfill near Rogers Elementary School is asking the Mehlville School District to take a stance.

Ameren officials want to build new facilities for coal waste because its current storage is running out of room. Last year the energy company proposed a new landfill at Ameren Missouri's Meramec Energy Center. 

For the new storage, Ameren proposes mixing the ash with just enough water until it forms a solid and stacking it in a pyramid-like structure on the center's campus, Meramec Plant Manager Mark Litzinger said. The 30-acre pyramid would stand about 100 feet high. 

The dry waste facility would be the first in Missouri, but has been successful in Indiana and Illinois, Litzinger said. It would take about 15 years to fill the new space. 

Read more: Ameren Proposes New Storage Facility at Oakville Plant

The property is just over a mile away from the elementary school. James Curcuru, Jr. told the school district's Board of Education last week that he wants them to take a stand on the project. Curcuru provided a copy of a Letter to the Editor he wrote to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 

"My home, our children, our school deserves a voice," he wrote. "Our power will only be limited by our effort."

Read the full letter: People deserve to be heard on coal ash landfills