Attorney General's News Release

March 12, 2008

Nixon designates citizens to serve on boards of two new charitable funds created from Taum Sauk settlement

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today designated the members of two separate boards of directors for the new charitable funds created through his settlement with AmerenUE. The $179.5 million settlement, reached in November 2007, resolved Nixon’s lawsuit against AmerenUE over the collapse of the Taum Sauk Reservoir in Reynolds County in December 2005.

One of the charitable organizations, the Taum Sauk Fund, will use $7 million from the settlement to promote tourism and economic development in the areas affected by the reservoir failure. The other fund, the Reynolds County Educational Enrichment Fund, will use $3 million from the settlement to promote educational opportunities in Reynolds County. Nixon will swear in the members of both boards as they hold a joint initial meeting at 5 p.m. on March 14 at the Lesterville School.

“These boards have a historic opportunity to provide needed financial resources to help students in Reynolds County and to give a boost to the businesses of the area that felt the economic impact of this disaster,” Nixon said. “The citizens who will serve on these boards are to be commended for stepping forward to be a part of this far-reaching solution.”

Selected to the nine-member Taum Sauk Fund board of directors, with a term to begin on March 14, 2008, are:

• Judith (Judy) Allen, of Bunker, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Henry Balderas, of Black, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010;
• Larry Barnes, of Ellington, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010;
• Thomas W. Crowell, of Arcardia, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Jim Erpenbach, of Ironton, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010;
• Jim Hill, of Ellington, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Kurt Homeyer, of Ellington, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009;
• Mary Peterson, of Van Buren, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009; and
• Paul V. Usher II, of Ironton, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009.

Nixon, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, selected nine members to the Reynolds County Educational Enrichment Fund, with terms to begin on March 14. Those members are:

• Lee Ferber, of Springfield, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009;
• Gary Gant, of Bunker, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Mike Harper, of Centerville, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009;
• Melinda Hatchcoat, of Ellington, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010;
• Tommy Holland, of Centerville, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Dee McCormack, of Ellington, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2008;
• Ben Meredith, of Lesterville, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010;
• Terry Patterson, of Boss, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2009; and
• Mike Williams, of Black, for a term to expire on Dec. 31, 2010.