ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Officials with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources may be willing to put aside differences with Attorney General Jay Nixon and work with him toward a settlement with Ameren Corp. over the Taum Sauk disaster, DNR director Doyle Childers said Monday.

  Childers' comments came the same day Nixon sent a letter to an Ameren attorney outlining what he called the "essential elements" necessary to settle a civil case over the December 2005 breach of the Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant in southeast Missouri. The accident spilled 1.3 billion gallons of water down Profitt Mountain, badly damaging the Black River and Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. On May 2, DNR announced its own settlement proposal.

  Childers said he generally liked what he saw in Nixon's letter.

  "Is the intent to move forward? If it is, we welcome that," said Childers, who called it "highly likely" his office will contact Nixon's to try and come up with a unified settlement proposal to Ameren.

  "I feel very optimistic we ought to be able to get something moving on this," Childers said.

  Several calls to Ameren were not returned.

  Nixon said politics has never played a part in his handling of the case. He declined to speculate on the possibility of working with DNR on a settlement.

  "This is too important for politics," Nixon said. "You're dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars of ratepayer money, funding for schools in that area, restoring a pristine area.

  "Hopefully we'll provide a framework to end this matter and get people to work."

  Nixon and the DNR have feuded for months over which state entity has the right to negotiate a settlement with Ameren. Childers said last week that Nixon was "fired" after DNR officials learned the attorney general had accepted $20,000 in campaign donations. Nixon contends it is his constitutional responsibility to handle the legal matter.

  Nixon, a Democrat, is running for governor in 2008 against incumbent Republican Matt Blunt. Childers is an appointee of Blunt.

  Ameren has felt caught in the middle. In fact, after Childers called a news conference outside Ameren headquarters to announce last week's settlement proposal, Ameren officials arrived with toy footballs, complaining the two state agencies were playing "political football" with the utility.

  On the surface, the plans outlined by DNR and Nixon seem quite different. The DNR plan called for Ameren to pay $115 million; to allow state usage of Ameren-owned Church Mountain, which sits near Profitt Mountain; and to give the DNR rights to a western Missouri railroad right-of-way the state would use to extend the Katy Trail hiking and biking path.

  In his letter to Haar, Nixon said the DNR's plans "are not adequate to fairly and fully compensate the losses of the state and its citizens ..." His plan would require Ameren to:

  --Spend $350 to rebuild Taum Sauk, a price tag that includes state-of-the-art safety and environmental protection features.

  --Agree to make tax payments to Reynolds County at the same level as if the plant were still up and running. Ameren has already agreed to make those payments through 2007, but officials in the Lesterville School District say they'll face a severe financial crisis that will include school closings if the payments stop.

  --Agree not to pass along to customers costs associated with the settlement, reconstruction of the plant and rebuilding of Johnson's Shut-Ins.

  Childers agreed with those main points and noted the company has already said it will rebuild. He said federal officials have already given preliminary approval to environmental safeguards in Ameren's rebuild plan, and DNR has already granted some permits for the project. And he said the Missouri Public Service Commission said Ameren cannot raise rates to pay Taum Sauk-related costs.

  Childers did not offer a timetable on when the two state agencies could have a joint settlement proposal for Ameren.

  DNR initially offered a settlement proposal in December. Ameren countered with one of its own last month, but Childers was critical of a provision calling for a $10 million payment to Nixon's office to be used for cleanup. Although the Ameren plan also provided $10 million to the DNR, Childers called the payment to Nixon a "slush fund" that the attorney general could "hand out to his political cronies."

  Childers said Monday he would accept a compromise of putting that money in a trust fund set aside for cleanup.

  (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

  APTV 05-07-07 1522CDT

*****Previous story*****

(KMOV) - The Department of Natural Resources and Ameren are fighting over when Johnson's Shut-ins State Park should re-open.

The park was heavily damaged in 2005 when the Taum Sauk Reservoir collapsed sending a billion gallons of water down a mountainside.

The DNR says the park will remain closed this summer because restoration isn't complete.

Ameren-UE owns the hydro-electric plant, and says enough repairs could be made to open the park by July 1.

*****Previous story*****

St. Louis (AP) -- Ameren Corp. and federal regulators are moving ahead with plans to rebuild the Taum Sauk reservoir, even as legal troubles continue to dog the company over the reservoir's 2005 collapse.

AmerenUE, KMOV

The upper reservoir of the upper Taum Sauk reservoir before and after the breach.

Ameren held a public meeting this month in Reynolds County -- where the reservoir is located -- to update residents on the rebuilding plans. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission plans to hold two public hearings on the plan in March.

While the rebuilding process moves forward, Ameren is still trying to settle legal claims with state authorities. The reservoir's collapse unleashed one billion gallons of water that devastated Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and injured a family of five.

Ameren is in settlement talks with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to repay the state for damages from the collapse. The agency has asked for more than $125 million.

Attorney General Jay Nixon is also suing the state's largest utility, alleging gross negligence in the reservoir's collapse.

DNR Director Doyle Childers said he has no problem with Ameren moving forward with plans to rebuild the reservoir before it settles claims with the state. He said DNR staff members are examining the plan to make sure it will meet all environmental and dam safety regulations.

"I think it's acceptable to us as long as they do those things," Childers said.

It's unclear how the rebuilding might affect Nixon's lawsuit. Nixon's office did not return messages seeking comment.

Ameren spokesman Tim Fox wouldn't comment on rebuilding the reservoir beyond the company's initial announcement of the plan.

Ameren plans to tear town the remains of the reservoir's earthen wall and replace them with a concrete dam. Ameren concluded the earthen wall was shoddily constructed in the 1960s and wouldn't meet current safety regulations.

A portion of the kidney-shaped basin collapsed after the basin overflowed. Federal regulators said Ameren officials knew equipment was broken at the reservoir but delayed repairs until it collapsed.

Ameren's new design also calls for overflow release valves in the dam that could prevent catastrophic overtopping.

FERC spokeswoman Celeste Miller said the agency will hold two hearings March 12 to gather public input on Ameren's plan. A morning meeting will be held at DNR offices in Jefferson City and an evening meeting will follow in Lesterville, near the reservoir.

The meetings will only cover environmental effects of the plan, Miller said. Public comments will be included a report that FERC staff members will prepare for the commissioners. The full commission will decide whether to approve the plan, Miller said.

While the meetings will focus on environmental issues, the public is welcome to comment on other aspects of the plan such as dam safety, Miller said.

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On the Net:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: www.ferc.gov

Ameren Corp.: www.ameren.gov

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)