The festivities will include plant tours, a magic show, live music, "Raptor Awareness" demonstrations by the World Bird Sanctuary, a fire truck and ambulance display and much more. Also in attendance will be Ameren's "safety spokesbug" mascot, Louie the Lightning Bug.
"Safety has been a critical focus of our operation since the plant came online in 1976," says Rush Island Plant Manager Bob Meiners. "Over the past three years, we have had just one lost-time injury per year. Our safety record is one of the best for Ameren's coal-fired plants, and our goal is to achieve no lost- time injuries on a continuous yearly basis. Louie will help spread the safety message to the young people who come to the celebration."
Meiners says that Rush Island's safety record is especially noteworthy given the many milestones the plant reached in 2005, including most electricity generated in plant history (9,442,524 megawatthours), the most coal burned (5,340,918 tons) and the lowest nitrogen oxide emissions of any Ameren plant (0.094 pounds per million British thermal units of heat produced).
The plant has also benefited from many upgrades over the years, including recent improvements: • New digital controls for both of the 1,260-megawatt plant's generating units. • Heightened security in the wake of 9-11. • An expanded rail car track system that has allowed increased coal deliveries. • A cover for the plant's intake structure that allows employees and contractors to work year-round without fear of summer heat or winter ice. • A new barge-haul system to allow barge operators to work more safely and efficiently. • A new dry ash handling system.
"Thanks to AmerenUE's willingness to invest in Rush Island, you would never guess that the plant is 30 years old," says Meiners. "We're looking forward to many more years of safe, efficient operations at Rush Island."
"I congratulate all the employees at Rush Island Plant," says Ameren Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Rainwater. "They should be very proud of their track record of high performance, attention to detail and focus on safety"
AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and about one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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