St. Louis based Ameren Corporation agreed to pay $180 million in settlement money for the collapse. Nearly $12 million of that money will go toward the development of a state park along the Current River in Shannon County. According to state officials, the park is planned for an area near the Alton Club north of Eminence in an area currently managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The park will be the first state park on the Current River since several state parks in the area were transferred to the National Park Service to be included in the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways in 1968.

The new park would be the 84th state park. The latest park to be added to the system was Confluence Point State Park near St. Louis in 2004.

$52 million of the settlement will go toward the redevelopment of Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park which was heavily damaged after the collapse. The park's master plan calls for a new park office, store, and interpretive center, stream restoration, and other day-use facilities. A new campground will be developed nearby.

1) Ameren is required to restore and rebuild the area in and around Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park at an estimated value of $52 million. The park will be rebuilt according to a master plan that had public review before being approved.


2) For natural resource damages which include damages to aquatic, biological and terrestrial resources in the area of the breach, and lost recreational use opportunities for all citizens of the State who own and enjoy Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, Ameren will:


•Pay $11.8 million to DNR’s State Park’s Earnings Fund for recreational use loss to create new and additional recreational opportunities for the citizens of the state, in part, through a new state park on the Current River;


•Pay $4.2 million to DNR’s Natural Resources Protection Fund for natural resource damages and to fund over $1.2 million to safety equipment including state-of-the-art emergency response vehicles to respond to environmental emergencies or disasters in every region of the state;


•Pay $6 million to the Missouri Conservation Commission Fund for natural resource damages;


•Pay $2 million to DNR’s Natural Resources Protection Fund for monitoring water quality on the Black River;


•Give to DNR, in order to create new and additional recreational opportunities for the citizens of the state, a perpetual license to locate a biking and hiking trail on a section of the Rock Island Railroad from Windsor to Pleasant Hill adjacent to the railroad bed which will link Katy Trail State Park at Windsor to the Kansas City area; pay $18 million to DNR’s State Park’s Earnings Fund for construction of the trail; right of first refusal for Church Mountain; and give DNR a right of first refusal to purchase the Rock Island Railroad corridor should it ever be sold. Ameren estimates the value of the license and both rights of first refusal to be $15 million.

Among other provisions of the settlement, Ameren is required to:

•Pay $7 million for the establishment of a local Tourism and Economic Development Trust Fund to promote tourism in the area and evaluate the need for a wastewater treatment facility for the town of Lesterville;

•Pay $2 million to the Reynolds County School Fund;

•Pay $3 million for the establishment of a Reynolds County Educational Enrichment Fund;

•Pay $2 million to DNR’s State Park’s Earnings Fund for lost Johnson’s Shut-Ins revenue and the value of the timber destroyed in the park;

•Rebuild the Upper Reservoir, and do so in an environmentally sound and publicly safe manner;

•Pay a minimum of $2.4 million in Reynolds County property taxes through 2010 or until the Upper Reservoir rebuild is complete;

•Create fish habitat and recreational opportunities in the Lower Reservoir and develop a more natural flow schedule for the East Fork of the Black River;

•Guarantee that no costs associated with the breach will be passed on to Ameren rate paying customers.