STATE, COMPANY CLASH ON WELLS

CRUMP, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Kinder Morgan Power Co. have squared off over well digging at the site of a proposed $250 million power plant in southwestern Cape Girardeau County.

The DNR says the wells at the site on Route U near Crump were dug illegally. Kinder Morgan denies it. State regulators say the company could be fined, but 85 percent of violations don't result in fines.

The DNR notified the company of the violation in a certified letter mailed Friday. The letter also asks for copies of Kinder Morgan's contracts for the sale of electricity from the proposed plant.

Kinder Morgan has an agreement to sell electricity to Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Co., a power marketer. The power would travel through an AmerenUE substation and transmission lines near the proposed site.

Steven Feeler, chief of the enforcement section of DNR's Air Pollution Control Program, said such a marketing contract, depending on the wording, could constitute the start of construction of the power plant project under DNR regulations and put Kinder Morgan in violation of permit requirements.

Company officials say they don't understand such logic.

"I think I could have a contract to go out and build a plant, but how does that commence construction? It is beyond me," said Kinder Morgan's attorney, Richard Kuntze of Cape Girardeau.

Two wells established

The Lakewood, Colo., power company dug two wells earlier this year and has plans for a third well to supply the 2,800 gallons of water per minute needed for the plant. The DNR says the wells are part of the proposed plant and shouldn't have been constructed because the company didn't have the permit needed to build the plant.

But John Gibson, director of site development for Kinder Morgan, said Wednesday that the wells are test wells, dug to determine if there was sufficient water underground to supply the plant.

Gibson said the company would have to improve the 1,600-foot-deep wells before they could supply the plant with water.

The power plant itself would cover 22 acres adjacent to Nora and Alvin Seabaugh's farm. The Seabaughs say they don't want to live in the shadow of the plant.

Meanwhile, Kinder Morgan continues to test its wells. Nora Seabaugh said water was being pumped out of one of the wells Wednesday, continuing testing that began last week.

"It's been going day and night," she said.

Still, Nora Seabaugh said she and her husband are powerless to stop it. "We can't worry about it."

Kuntze said Kinder Morgan won't build a power plant without first determining if a proposed site has sufficient water. That can't be done without constructing wells, he said.

The current disagreement won't kill the project, Feeler said. But air emission requirements could.

DNR officials don't want the plant to spew out nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions which can cause smog. They say the company must agree to install equipment to restrict such emissions, reduce the number of hours it would operate or go to a different type of generating system.

Kinder Morgan officials say the DNR is being overly restrictive and that the proposed plant already meets federal Clean Air Act requirements. The company earlier this month appealed to Missouri's seven-member Air Conservation Commission in an effort to secure the construction permit needed to build the plant.

The commission has four months to decide the case. But Feeler said both the DNR and Kinder Morgan are still talking, trying to resolve matters. Both sides are scheduled to meet again on Aug. 7.

If talks break down, the commission could appoint a hearing officer by the end of August. The hearing officer would meet with both sides and then make a recommendation to the commission. The final decision would come from the commission.

State Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said he was dismayed by the regulatory hurdles that have kept the power plant project in limbo. He has encouraged Gov. Bob Holden to intervene.

Calls to Holden's office were not returned Wednesday.

Kinder said he is a distant relative of Richard Kinder, who is a Cape Girardeau native and founder of the Kinder Morgan parent company based in Houston.

Richard Kinder has said the proposed plant is similar to ones the company is constructing in Little Rock, Ark., and Jackson, Mich., but getting one built in Missouri has proved more difficult.

Even if the Air Conservation Commission rejects Kinder Morgan's arguments, the company could take its case to court.