Ameren settles with family hurt in reservoir break

LESTERVILLE, Mo. -- Ameren Corp. announced Tuesday it reached a legal settlement with a family that was injured when the utility company's Taum Sauk reservoir collapsed in December.

Members of the Toops family were the only people seriously injured during the accident, which sent more than one billion gallons of water rushing over thousands of acres in Southeast Missouri's Reynolds County.

Neither Ameren nor the attorney for the Toops family would discuss details of the agreement.

Even after the Toops settlement, Ameren faces hefty costs associated with damage from the flood. Vast tracts of Johnson's Shut-Ins are buried beneath 5 feet of mud, and Ameren is paying for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to restore the popular park.

The DNR handed Ameren its first bill for the cleanup Tuesday, charging it $151,967 for restoration efforts during two weeks in December, said DNR deputy director Kurt Schaefer.

The DNR will bill Ameren every three months for the ongoing cleanup, Schaefer said, and is drawing up the bill for the first quarter of 2006.

Jerry Toops was the superintendent of Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. He and his wife, Lisa, were home with their three children the morning of Dec. 14 when the earthen wall of the reservoir atop nearby Proffit Mountain gave way.

Witnesses said a wall of water rushed through the valley where the Toopses lived. The deluge splintered their home, carrying the family some 500 yards in a tide of debris before depositing them in a muddy field.

Rescuers quickly found Jerry Toops, who was hanging onto a tree and shouting for help. It took about an hour to locate Lisa and the children, who were huddled together silently near a pile of debris.

"Pretty much all of them were in shock, honestly," said Lesterville Fire Department chief Ben Meredith.

The children were hospitalized in St. Louis. Seven-month-old Tucker, 5-year-old Tanner, and 3-year-old Tara were listed in critical condition. They were all eventually released from the hospital in good health.

Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher would not comment on any aspect of the Toops family's settlement. The company said in a news release that "all claims" had been resolved.

Steve Burmeister, the family's attorney, did not return a call seeking comment on the settlement.

But a statement released by his office said the Toops family considers Ameren a good corporate citizen.

"We do not intend to make any further comment regarding Taum Sauk as we now prepare to get on with our personal lives," the family said in the statement.

"We realize that the Taum Sauk plant is critical to Reynolds County and are optimistic that AmerenUE will rebuild the plant in a fashion that will cause it to be operated safely," they said.

Attorney General Jay Nixon is conducting a criminal investigation into the accident.

Ameren managers knew for months that equipment at the reservoir was faulty and didn't accurately measure the level of water inside. The company said the collapse occurred after the reservoir overflowed, weakening the earthen wall before it fell.

Gallagher said Ameren was designing replacement water-level gauges for the reservoir and scheduling a time when they could be installed during the months before the collapse.