Historical Accomplishments: 1969-2004

2004

• The Coalition reaches a settlement with the U.S. EPA that will require a major overhaul of the state's water quality standards.
• MCE and three other organizations reach a settlement with the Holcim cement company that will result in $3 million in regional environmental projects.       

2003

• A Coalition review of government documents reveals a plan to construct many miles of new ATV trails on the Mark Twain National Forest, leading to a public outcry and a delay of the plan.
• The Coalition leads efforts to protect streams and wetlands throughout Missouri, including the defense of limits on gravel mining in the state's streams. 

2002

• The Coalition and Sierra Club win a four-year legal battle to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to redesignate the St. Louis region as a “serious non-attainment area” for ground-level ozone.  Meanwhile, the region applied for “attainment” status with the 1977 ozone standards, based on recent improvements in air quality - spurred on by the lawsuit.

2001

• The Coalition leads environmental and community groups in opposing efforts of a Swiss multi-national corporation to develop the country’s largest cement plant in Ste. Genevieve, 35 miles south of St. Louis, on 1600 acres of intact hardwood forest along the Mississippi River.  Focusing on threats to air quality, human health, ecosystem and species habitat, the Coalition spearheads a public media campaign, regulatory actions and appeals to legislators.
• The Coalition also leads a successful effort to save Church Mountain in the Missouri Ozarks from a utility company's ill-advised hydroelectric plant proposal, which would have decapitated the mountain.   

2000

• The Coalition organizes a widely-acclaimed environmental “summit” workshop featuring “hero of the planet” award winner L. Hunter Lovins, co-author of Natural Capitalism.  The workshop, public lecture and other events introduce St. Louis business, government and non-profit leaders to innovative concepts of utilizing environmental best practices to create profitable business enterprises.

1999

• Faced with a growing threat from industrial scale wood chip mills in southern Missouri, the Coalition convinces Governor Mel Carnahan to appoint a Chip Mill Advisory Committee to review impacts and make recommendations.  The Coalition organizes public comments on the Committee’s draft report and works to strengthen its recommendations.  Subsequently, the Coalition convinces the Missouri Clean Water Commission to impose a two-year moratorium on new chip mills.

1998

• The Coalition coordinates over 1,000 volunteers in a referendum petition campaign, gathering over 45,000 signatures in 45 days to gain a public vote on the Page Avenue Freeway extension through Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park.  However, outspent 6-to-1 by development/highway interests, the citizens’ ballot initiative is rejected at the polls by a 2-to-1 margin.

1997

• The Coalition wins a landmark lawsuit in the Missouri Supreme Court which returns to the executive branch of state government the right to determine how legislation is enforced.
• MCE wins a federal court order prohibiting a Nevada casino from mooring a gambling boat at Earth City and transporting 15,000 gamblers each day across the protected open space between the levee and the Missouri River.

1996

• “The groups which participated in this monumental effort are to be applauded for giving Missourians the chance to renew the (Parks and Soils) tax after the legislature failed to do so.  They include the Missouri Farm Bureau, Conservation Federation of Missouri, Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Parks Association…” Kansas City Star editorial, July 1, 1996
• “If we want a world and society that is sustainable, then we – you and I – have to sustain with our dollars groups like the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.”
  Dr. Peter H. Raven, Director,  Missouri Botanical Garden , October 1996
• Eighteen years of Coalition struggle to educate the public and government officials about the dangerous local legacy of nuclear weapons production wastes culminates in a unanimous agreement by the federally-appointed St. Louis Radioactive Waste Task Force to recommend that the U.S. Dept. of Energy clean up all St. Louis City and County sites and remove the wastes from populous, urban areas and related floodplains.

1995

• The Coalition challenges multiple state agency permits and variances issued to Fort Leonard Wood to enable the Army to move its nerve gas, germ warfare and chemical weapons center and heavily polluting obscurant training program to the Ozarks.  In the two proceedings which reached the courts, the agency actions were set aside.

1994

• “Were it not for the Coalition for the Environment and other watchdog groups that want to put a reasonable brake on development of floodplains in built-up suburban areas, the plans for the Earth City Expressway extension might not be known.”
  St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial,  April 26, 1994
•  “…since its founding by such distinguished luminaries as Leo A. Drey, R. Walston Chubb, Dr. Barry Commoner, Lewis C. Green and Emily Ullman, (the Coalition) has served as Missouri’s leading advocate for greater and better informed public involvement in environmental decisions.”
  Buzz Westfall, St. Louis County Executive, October 1994
• “…the Missouri Coalition for the Environment has been an effective leader in spreading an environmental message to the communities in Missouri .”
  Mel Carnahan, Governor of the State of Missouri , October 1994

1993

• The Coalition helps lead successful citizen opposition to a proposed 308 mile all-terrain vehicle trail system through the Mark Twain National Forest.
• After several years of effort, the Coalition helps to ensure that Greer Spring will be protected from development by assisting in the passage of a federal law, adding this second largest Missouri spring to the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River system and transferring the surrounding 7,000 acres to the federal government to be maintained in its natural state.

1992

• Working in concert with Citizens to Protect Forest Park, the Coalition enables St. Louis voters to reject Art Museum plans to expand the building and construct parking lots in Forest Park.

1991

• The Coalition organizes citizen action to protest the extension of a Page Avenue expressway and ten-lane bridge through Creve Coeur County Park.

1990

• The Missouri Solid Waste Law, banning dangerous and/or easily recyclable materials from landfills and providing funds and other incentives for recycling, is drafted with the help of the Coalition and passed with its support.

1989

• The Coalition for the Environment and the Sierra Club appeal the Forest Service permit allowing lead mining in the Mark Twain National Forest and force a full environmental impact statement.

1988

• The Coalition successfully runs the campaign in the eastern half of the state to renew the 1/10 of 1% Missouri Parks and Soils tax.

1987

• The Coalition’s federal lawsuit blocks St. Louis County’s effort to build a 70,000 seat stadium in the floodplain in Maryland Heights, paving the way for a stadium to be built downtown to augment Convention Center facilities.

1986

• A Coalition petition drive results in County voters’ rejection of the construction of a golf course in Queeny Park.

1985

• With Coalition support, five county parks are protected from future adverse development under the “Natural Heritage Parks” initiative.

1984

• The Coalition helps draft the Missouri State Superfund Law and assists in its passage with the aid of its full-time lobbyist in Jefferson City.

1983

• The Coalition plays a major role in educating officials and the public about the dangers of dioxin contamination.

1982

• The Coalition supports a Master Plan for Forest Park which permits development only in three areas – the Steinberg Rink, Planetarium, and Jewel Box – and opposes construction of a new Science Museum within the Park.

1981

• The Coalition is instrumental in the County Council decision to implement funding of linear parks.

1980

• The Coalition intervenes in Public Service Commission hearings on Union Electric’s plans to build two nuclear power reactors in Callaway County; after two weeks of hearings, the second reactor is cancelled, saving ratepayers millions of dollars and reducing the generation of dangerous radioactive wastes.

1979

• The Coalition successfully leads the opposition to the proposed North-South Distributor Highway which would have demolished 2,000 homes.

1978

• The Coalition, as part of the Missouri Wilderness Coalition, begins concerted effort to pass legislation establishing Bell Mountain , Rockpile Mountain , Devil’s Background and Piney Creek Wilderness areas; law is enacted two years hence.

1977

• An $11 million County Parks Bond Issue is passed with the support of the Coalition, providing money for the Lower Meramec Recreational Area and for the purchase of additional park lands.

1976

• The Coalition successfully leads the statewide campaign to prevent utility companies from charging ratepayers for construction work in progress (CWIP – Prop 1), with a 2 to 1 vote.

1975

• “I look upon the Coalition as a valuable resource for County Government , providing enlightening and beneficial input toward the formulation of County decisions and policy.  It plays an important role, helping to ensure that the natural beauty of our surroundings is preserved and the quality of life of our citizens is enhanced.”
  Gene McNary, St. Louis County Supervisor,  May 2, 1975
• “While the positions of the Department of Natural Resources and the Coalition have not always corresponded on every issue, we view the Coalition as a mature organization which responsibly represents a very important citizen point of view.” James L. Wilson, Director,  Missouri DNR, May 14, 1975

1975

• Coalition members initiate a lawsuit, successful in the Missouri Supreme Court, to preserve Queeny Park and two other parks from development as golf courses at taxpayer expense.

1974

• The Coalition sponsors the Endangered Species Conference chaired by Marlin Perkins.   Britain ’s Prince Philip addresses the conference.

1973

• The Coalition sponsors a national conference on composting and waste recycling.

1972

• The Coalition helps to craft and pass the “Schramm package” of environmental bills in the general assembly, resulting in the adoption of Missouri’s Clean Water Act.

1971

• The Coalition files a landmark lawsuit against major floodplain development, winning a seminal ruling prohibiting development below the high water mark without a federal permit, and a decree preserving the land between the Earth City levee and the Missouri River as open space.

1970

• Barry Commoner, a Coalition for the Environment founder, appears on the cover of TIME magazine in conjunction with the first celebration of Earth Day.

1969

• The Coalition for the Environment is founded as an outgrowth of the St. Louis Conference on the Environment held at the Missouri Botanical Garden.