AmerenUE has everything in place to rebuild the Taum Sauk reservoir—except agreements with state authorities. And the company Chief Executive Officer says those agreements appear to be close. But the company lawyer has issued a lengthy legal cautionary note against accepting company optimism at face value.

AmerenUE has picked the contractors to rebuild the reservoir on Proffitt Mountain—it’s not really on Taum Sauk Mountain. It has cleared the wreckage of the old reservoir. It has gotten a go-ahead from the federal government to start rebuilding. Still unresolved, though, are legal issues with state authorities. CEO Tom Voss says the discussions between the state and AmerenUE have put everybody "pretty close" to an agreement. He calls the discussions "encouraging." He says talks are down to dotting I’s and crossing T’s. He says several agencies are involved and sometimes they disagree while they try to make sure all of their interests are covered. But Voss says all of the participants have been constructive and discussions have been going "reasonably well." But the company’s lawyer has issued a lengthy cautionary note at the end of a company news release that sounds like a television pharmaceutical ad, saying, "Statements…not based on historical facts are considered ‘forward looking’ and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. Although such forward-looking statements have been made in good faith and are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved." Nevertheless, Voss says AmerenUE wants to finish the rebuild by this time two years from now. We’re just short of two years since the devastating collapse of the reservoir.

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