AmerenEnergy Generating Company’s Newton Plant announces that today marked the plant’s first full year without a recordable accident. The record is an important milestone toward Ameren’s goal of attaining “zero unsafe acts” at its facilities. Newton’s 365-day run with no recordable accidents beats the plant’s previous record by 73 days.
Employees will celebrate with AmerenEnergy Generating senior managers at the plant tomorrow, April 3, at 10:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at 11. Members of the news media are invited to attend, eat lunch and visit with plant management and employees.
Making the safety record even more impressive is the fact that in 2008 Newton Plant set 11 monthly generation records, an all-time monthly coal-handling record, and for three quarters of the year, was Number One on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of low-nitrogen oxide emitters in the nation. The plant has also set annual generation records for the past two years.
“As impressive as those records are, they don’t mean a thing if we aren’t operating safely,” says Newton Manager Ken Schoof. “The combination of performance and safety records demonstrates that our employees believe that you can have both high productivity and an outstanding safety record in the workplace. We’re just not doing our jobs unless every employee goes home safely at the end of the day.”
“Everyone at Ameren can be very proud of Newton’s accomplishment,” says AmerenEnergy Generating Chairman and President Chuck Naslund. “We have challenged all of our managers to commit to zero unsafe acts. While as a corporation Ameren has made significant progress in improving its safety record, we always have room for improvement. Newton has shown that it can be done.”
Located in Jasper County, Ill., Newton—a 1,198 megawatt plant—began operations in 1977. Ameren Corporation has a generating capacity of 16,500 megawatts.
With $23 billion in assets, Ameren Corporation, through its affiliates, serves 2.4 million electric and nearly 1 million natural gas customers across 64,000 square miles of Illinois and Missouri.
Directions to Newton Plant:
From Effingham, take Illinois Route 33 through the communities of Dieterich and Wheeler. Approximately two miles past Wheeler, turn right at the brown "Newton Lake and Conservation Area" sign onto CIPS Road. CIPS Road terminates at the Newton Power Station.
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CONTACT: Tim Fox, 314.554.4335, of Ameren