JEFFERSON CITY - Jay Nixon yesterday launched into an angry and politically motivated tirade over a proposed settlement between the state and Ameren over the Taum Sauk dam collapse then brazenly insulted state workers working in the best interests of Missourians.

Nixon attacked the proposed settlement offered by the Department of Natural Resources to Ameren in a story by The Associated Press yet never mentions his failure to complete an investigation of the utility. Nixon also does not discuss the $19,000 in backdoor campaign contributions he accepted from Ameren during the investigation but he does find time to brand the settlement as nothing more than “a wish list from bureaucrats.”

“While dedicated state employees have been working hard these past few months to come up with a proposed settlement that addresses the needs of Missourians affected by the Taum Sauk collapse, Jay Nixon has failed to complete his investigation into the collapse and admitted that he took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Ameren while investigating them,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Jay Nixon’s criticism of the proposed settlement is a bitter political response to his own failures and misdeeds while his mean-spirited attack on state workers is nothing short of a disgrace.”

Despite Nixon’s bitter response, the proposed settlement would include civil penalties for water violations; compensation for damage to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park; compensation for recreational use losses and assurances Ameren will take steps to protect water quality and pay for restoration efforts. Contrary to Nixon’s claims, Ameren would also either give the state or allow the state to use a mountain it owns near the site of the collapse and a stretch of railroad right-of-way the company owns in Western Missouri. The proposed settlement allows for the possibility of the Katy Trail stretching all the way across the state.