The State of Illinois ranks eighth in the nation for the number of coal waste disposal sites, many of which are storage lagoons similar to the one that failed in Tennessee in December 2008. Recent USEPA reports indicate that coal waste leaches hazardous pollution in much greater quantities than had been recognized previously. In Illinois, our knowledge and capacity to coordinate the proper monitoring and management of these wastes needs to be updated to avoid our own  disaster.

Click on the video below to view news report on the Tennessee disaster:

 
Read letter from Prairie Rivers Network and 108 other organizations to EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson.

For more information about this issue from the Environmental Integrity Project: www.environmentalintegrity.org/pub640.cfm