By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis-based Ameren UE wants to reduce foam material that's polluting the Lake of the Ozarks.
Ameren owns the lake and says during a recent clean up, 90% of the 170 tons of trash collected was foam used to float boat docks.
The company wants to allow only foam that is encapsulated, or enclosed in a shell. But a group of dock owners says encapsulated foam is three times more expensive.
The regulations are part of a larger shore-line management plan Ameren will submit in 2006. That's when it renews its 30-year federal license to operate Bagnell Dam and the Osage Power Plant.
Ameren plans to hold a public hearing on the regulations this fall.