Alpena Vision Resources’ state mining permit for the Murdock Mine in Douglas County, IL is coming up for renewal, and Prairie Rivers Network has requested a public hearing. That public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, May 20th at the Little Hall on the Prairie on Second Street in Murdock.

Murdock area residents are still suffering from dust and pollution from Alpena’s Murdock coal mine, even though the site is being reclaimed. State environmental regulators have agreed to look into new complaints by Murdock area residents that a large amount of dust still blows on windy days from the former mining site, which is the target of pollution complaints filed last fall by the Illinois attorney general’s office.

Prairie Rivers Network has worked to bring the plight of the mine’s neighbors to the attention of the Illinois State Attorney General’s office since 2010. The mine had stockpiled and stored materials such as biosolids and coal ash in ways that created a water pollution hazard, and also allowed the emission of dust and unpleasant odors through storage, handling, disposal and use of wastes.

IN THE NEWS: State to investigate new complaints over Murdock mine site (News Gazette) May 14, 2013 (PDF)

Below find a letter to the trustees of the Urbana Champaign Sanitary District outlining our position on water sales by the district. This letter was precipitated by UCSD’s consideration of water sales to two different proposed facilities – the Cronus fertilizer plant near Tuscola, IL and Sunrise Coal’s “Bulldog” coal mine in Vermilion County, IL. PRN believes that it is necessary for UCSD to adopt a formal policy to help guide considerations of water sales.

For background information on the water sales currently being considered, go here. The UCSD draft policy statement, to which this letter is a response, can be found here.

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Dear Trustees Lenik, Lyke and Putman:

Thank you for presenting the District’s draft policy on effluent sales for public review and comment.  The sale of effluent by the District is a new and serious consideration with long term implications for the Champaign Urbana community. As I stated at the public meeting on May 8th, it appears that the contemplated sale to Cronus is being made without due consideration of the potential ramifications and long term consequences. Likewise, the policy reads as if it has been hastily drafted to facilitate the sale. We hope you will use the invitation from Cronus as an opportunity to develop a policy for the future, rather than feel compelled to act quickly, according to a timeline set by Cronus. We need a policy that helps protect our water supply and promotes the health of local, cherished streams. The comments we heard on May 8 demonstrated overwhelming interest in protecting these streams and in planning for the future.

To that end, we offer the following comments on the draft policy. The numbered paragraphs correspond to those in the draft.

Paragraph 1.     The meaning of “financially beneficial” is unknown, as is the meaning of “influences.” Although policy statements tend to be more general in nature, if the document is too vague or overbroad how is the public, or the board for that matter, to determine whether a contemplated sale is consistent with the policy?  Please provide some clarification as to the meaning of these terms. The policy should require the sale price to be commensurate with market value in a comparable market, and reflect the opportunity cost of foreclosing the option to meet unforeseen local needs.

Paragraph 2.     Likewise, there is no indication what a “substantial contract” is. Is the potential Cronus contract substantial? What about the Bulldog Mine proposal?  We suggest that the policy clarify which proposals will be subject to public input and that the policy require the Board to seek public input and to strongly encourage and facilitate such input.  A public meeting and public comment period should be required elements of sale proposal considerations. Moreover, public comments should be sought after the public has been provided with a credible analysis of the impacts of the choices to be presented to the board for decision. {Continue Reading »}

In this May 2013 E-News edition (pdf):

• Heartland Coalfield Alliance Organizing Retreat
• Champaign-Urbana Proposed Water Sales Public Meeting
• Environmental Lobby Day a Success!
• Nutrient Pollution Reduction Strategy Announced
• PRN in the News
• Thank You Runners and Walkers!

Prairie Rivers Network recently attended the kickoff meeting of the Illinois State Nutrient Reduction Strategy. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture announced they will be writing a state plan to reduce nutrient pollution. The plan is being written because Illinois is one of the leading contributors of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that causes the annual Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Not only does Illinois export nutrients, but there are plenty of nutrient-impaired waters within the state.

An Illinois pond polluted with too many nutrients, as indicated by the algal bloom.

The plan will address both point and non-point sources of nutrient pollution. It is essential that pollution reductions come from both sectors to achieve meaningful progress towards clean water. The federal Clean Water Act gives Illinois EPA the authority to regulate and reduce discharges from point sources such as sewage treatment plants. Illinois could be doing more with this existing authority, and should because point sources can have very detrimental impacts and are a significant part of the problem. Nutrient removal technologies are available but point sources are slow to adopt them because of the expense. However, progress is being made plant by plant.

The majority of nutrient pollution comes from agriculture, which is exempt from the Clean Water Act (with the exception of certain livestock operations). As a society, we have relied for decades on voluntary measures to reduce pollution from agriculture. In other words, farmers have taken steps on their own, or society has financially incentivized farmers’ adoption of practices that will reduce the loss of agricultural chemicals from farm fields. Unfortunately, the voluntary approach is both expensive to taxpayers and insufficient, as agriculture remains a leading source of water pollution. {Continue Reading »}

UCSD considering water sale to fertilizer plant & coal mine

The Urbana Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD) is considering selling large amounts of water from its Urbana and Champaign sewage treatment plants to Cronus Chemical, a company proposing a fertilizer plant near Tuscola in Douglas County, IL. UCSD has also received a request to sell water to Hallador Energy’s Sunrise Coal, the company that is trying to develop the “Bulldog” coal mine southeast of Homer in Vermilion County, IL.

UCSD’s water discharges, commonly referred to as “effluent,” now flow from the Urbana sewage treatment plant to the Saline Branch and then the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River, and from the Champaign plant to Copper Slough and eventually, to the Kaskaskia River. The water sales could significantly change the flows in these streams and may commit the District to selling water that would one day be needed in Champaign County.

Please join us at the UCSD public meeting on May 8^th @ 6:30 pm at the Urbana sewage treatment plant, 1100 East University Avenue, Urbana.  {Continue Reading »}