JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Ameren Corp. will pay $177 million to settle the State of Missouri's lawsuit over the Taum Sauk reservoir disaster in 2005. Most of the money - including $51 million that has already been spent - will go toward cleaning up Johnston Shut-Ins State Park and the Black River; $18 million will be used to lengthen the Katy Trail, a 225-mile biking and hiking trail in Missouri.
A 650-foot section of the reservoir wall collapsed On Dec. 14, 2005, sending more than 1 billion gallons of water into Johnston Shut-Ins State Park. The popular state park 85 miles south of St. Louis has been closed ever since.
The settlement clears they way for Ameren to rebuild the reservoir. Federal regulators have approved Ameren's plans for rebuilding, which had been slowed by the state's lawsuit.
Ameren paid $15 million in a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2006.
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