Labadie Bottoms: The Fix Was In

October 26, 2011 Susan Cunningham 12 comments

Click here to view the beautiful Labadie Bottoms in Franklin County. Take a good look because soon Ameren will be destroying this floodplain, alive with wetlands critters, birds, and the magic of nature’s cleansing power.

On Tuesday, three county commissioners decided to change the planning and zoning regulations to allow a toxic coal ash dump in the Missouri River floodplain. This has been a two-year struggle by well-informed, educated, powerfully professional citizens to stop an incredibly stupid plan by Ameren Missouri.

Ameren is a “power” company in more ways than one. They have absolutely no good arguments for what they want to do. It’s just the cheapest (for them) and easiest solution to their waste disposal problem. They lied about having done a five-year study looking at alternative sites. When forced to produce such a study, they fumbled all over themselves with excuses. There was no study of alternative sites, and when local citizens gave them suggestions for alternative uses for the coal ash, they didn’t even bother to follow up on those ideas. Neither did the commissioners.

The fix was in from the beginning. (And I include the one “no” vote because that commissioner did nothing publicly to change the outcome. Ann Schroeder passively voted “yes” by her silence.)

FCDBlog Ameren, Coal Ash, Labadie Bottoms landfill, LEO

Comments

Written by Randy Phillips about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

Welcome to the Corporate States of America. Glad to read Ann voted no. But you see it was just a philosophical decision on her part. There’s really no right or wrong here.
Written by Clyde Voelkerding about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

I must take issue with your inclusion of Ann Schroeder’s active “No” vote as a passive “Yes” vote. If when our elected officials vote the way we would like them to vote we give them no credit for doing so, we do them and ourselves a disservice. You may think that she could have done more and you can say that if you wish, but don’t denigrate the fact that she took a more than “philosophical” stand against this plan. You may not like the words she used in the multitude of discussions that have occurred over the course of this debate, but when it came down to making a stand, she did so.

Instead, let’s place the blame squarely where it belongs – John Griesheimer and Terry Wilson, along with their pals at Ameren. You say it yourself Susan – “the fix was in”. If they had two commissioners already lined up to vote for this proposal what else could have been done (since it’s majority rules)? LEO did yeoman’s work in educating everyone involved and two of those commissioners ignored the science, ignored the will of the people and voted to allow this to go through. Let’s make sure they both are reminded of the will of the people when their next election comes along.
- Written by jack about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
  
  I agree with that, Ann’s vote is what mattered and she got that part right. Everyone knows why sleepy john voted like he did but what’s the story on wilson? Is he just Greisheimers boy or was there some other reason he ignored and went against the wishes of the people. Just wondering.
- Written by Randy Phillips about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
  
  Ann could have framed her opposition to the landfill around the science and around the fact that the public is overwhelming opposed to it. That would have made it politically awkward for Wilson and Griesheimer at a minimum. But she didn’t do that. Instead she framed it as a philosophical question and basically made it easy for them to vote yes because with philosophy there’s really no right or wrong. There’s just your philosophy. But putting a toxic coal ash landfill in a flood plain is fundamentally wrong by any objective measure and Ann should have said so — forcefully. Language is important and Democrats are notoriously bad at it. This is another example.
  
  But what’s done is done. The question now becomes, will there be a political price to pay? This landfill will be built in Wilson’s district and he voted for it. Is anyone going to challenge him? If not, then Franklin Countians should expect more of the same.
  - Written by Clyde Voelkerding about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
    
    Ann could have framed her opposition in many different ways, but in this case, I still think that’s irrelevant. I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure what, save finding direct payments from Ameren to shady slush funds owned by Messrs Griesheimer and Wilson, would have made this politically awkward for them. It seemed clear from the beginning that they had made their minds up on this issue. Given the fantastic job that LEO did framing the issue just as you describe (and ensuring that the information was disseminated far and wide), getting Wash U involved, getting St. Louis County residents involved, the sheer number of hours spent by those volunteers, etc. I’m not sure what more Ann could have added. (She even said flat out at the last meeting I attended “I don’t think we should put this in a floodplain”.)
    
    In fact, the pressure was so great that Griesheimer had to throw a baby tantrum about alleged conversations about his kids to try to take the pressure off his ultimate decision. When you have to deflect attention to supposed personal “attacks” like the ones described, clearly you’re losing the PR campaign.
    
    Like I said, let’s ensure that these two are held accountable.
    - Written by Randy Phillips about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
      
      “Like I said, let’s ensure that these two are held accountable.”
      
      The reason these guys voted against the wishes of Franklin Countians in the first place is because they know they won’t be held accountable.
Written by Rob Compton about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

I agree with Jack and Clyde. Let’s put all our focus on holding Mr. Greisheimer and Wilson accountable for their actions.
Written by jack about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

Recall petition anyone?
- Written by Randy Phillips about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
  
  Wilson is up for re-election next year. He’s gotten a free ride up to this point. He’s never had to raise much money or organize an actual campaign to get elected. Not bad for a 65k per year gig that let’s him hang out at the Washington museum and do research on WWII.
  
  It would be interesting to see how he would respond to a serious challenge with the organizational backing of LEO and other groups. As for a recall, I don’t think county commissioners can be recalled in Missouri and I doubt you could get enough signatures to recall sleepy John in any case. Wilson, on the other hand, is vulnerable. My bet is he’d do the cowardly thing and not run for reelection if he saw he was going to have to put some effort into it.
Written by namvet about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

If you really want to target someone what about State Rep. Scott Dieckhaus? If you recall, his own survey indicated that his constituents were against the Labadie coal ash landfill, yet he has been totally silent on the issue. He also claims to be a member of the Labadie Chamber of Commerce. Scott…you don’t have to hide in the weeds anymore two of the commissioners voted in favor of it on Tuesday.
- Written by Randy Phillips about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply
  
  In case I haven’t linked to that survey enough here it is again. Not sure what the point of doing it was except maybe to give the appearance that he cares about what voters think. He sure didn’t come out publicly to voice his opposition to the landfill along with a plurality of his constituents or offer any alternative solutions. Seems like this would have been an ideal issue to actually behave like a representative of the people. But he was silent.
Written by Darin Gilley about 7 months ago. Log in to Reply

Candidates funded by corporations? Is it anything like this excellent short, animated film by Annie Leonard – The Story of Citizens United?

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/the-story-of-citizens-united?utm_source=october11&utm_medium=yesemail&utm_campaign=tnStoryCitizensUtdlower

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Labadie Bottoms: The Fix Was In

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