5.3.2012

For Immediate Release

Statewide Alliance Calls for End to Subsidies and Misinformation

Springfield – Supporters of the Heartland Coalfield Alliance, a statewide coalition of community and environmental organizations, held a rally outside the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today, calling on the Department to stop what the group calls a waste of taxpayer funds and a publicly financed marketing campaign for the coal industry that targets children.

The DCEO currently produces and distributes a school curriculum for elementary and high school students entitled “From the Coal Mines to the Power Lines,” with the expressed purpose of providing students with a “sound and meaningful understanding of coal in Illinois.” Opponents of the program point out that the curriculum makes little mention of coal’s liabilities, of the environmental damage caused by its mining, burning or waste disposal, nor of its documented effects on public health.

“In hundreds of pages, DCEO’s curriculum fails to mention coal’s devastating impacts on clean water in Illinois, including massive habitat destruction from coal mines, harmful pollution in mine wastewater, and leaking coal ash dumps at power plants that is polluting rivers, streams and groundwater across the state ” said Brian Perbix, Grassroots Organizer with Prairie Rivers Network. “Illinois’ communities have borne the burden of coal pollution for far too long – our kids deserve to hear the truth.” {Continue Reading »}

By Robert Hirschfeld

A highly-anticipated report clearly demonstrates that it is possible to separate the artificial connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins and prevent the transfer of invasive species through the Chicago River system.

Authored by the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, “Restoring the Natural Divide”  re-envisions the Chicago River as a system which not only prevents the transfer of aquatic invaders such as Asian carp, but also better serves its functions of moving people and goods and managing stormwater, while improving water quality. {Continue Reading »}

By Glynnis Collins & Kim Knowles

This March, Prairie Rivers Network joined our Mississippi River Collaborative partners in launching two lawsuits against US EPA for their failure to regulate nutrient pollution.

Too many nutrients – a problem

Most people know that nitrogen and phosphorus are important nutrients for plants and animals. At high levels in water, however, the beneficial effects of these nutrients become problematic, and the nutrients are considered pollution.

Nitrate, a form of nitrogen, is toxic to people and other animals at high levels. A decade ago, Georgetown, Illinois had to abandon its drinking water reservoir because of high nitrate levels. Water suppliers for Decatur, Danville, and Streator had to install expensive ion exchange systems costing millions of dollars to remove nitrate from polluted reservoir water. Ongoing operation and maintenance expenses cost ratepayers tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

In rivers and lakes, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution stimulates excessive growth of algae, creating ugly mats or pea-soup scummy water. When the algae die, they rot. The bacteria that decompose them use up most or even all of the oxygen in the water, choking aquatic life. An enormous example of this problem is the “Dead Zone” that forms in the Gulf of Mexico every summer.

Especially in lakes and reservoirs, nutrient pollution can stimulate the growth of blue-green algae. This “pond scum” is unsightly and smells like vomit when it rots – enough to keep people from enjoying boating and swimming. The algae also sometimes release toxic chemicals into the water. Each summer, local communities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois are forced to officially close beaches because of the potential presence of blue-green algae toxins. The toxins can sicken or even kill people, pets, and livestock.

Watch a video on Dead Zone pollution.

{Continue Reading »}

Coal Ash Dump in Joliet, IL

Today Prairie Rivers Network joined with national partners, Earthjustice, Environmental Integrity Project, Physicians for Social Responsibility and other state-based environmental protection organizations in filing a lawsuit to finalize national standards for coal ash disposal.

This is critical for Illinois because while our state generates 4.4 million tons of coal ash every year, and imports coal ash for disposal from at least 6 states, this harmful waste product is handled according to outdated and ineffective state rules that were written over three decades ago. We are long overdue for an update, as evidenced by the fact that groundwater contamination from coal ash pollution has been found at every site investigated in Illinois – that’s 22 out of the 24 coal plants in the state. Below is a joint press release issued with our partners describing why now is the time for the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize its decision on coal ash. {Continue Reading »}

Read Prairie River Notes – Winter/Spring 2012 Newsletter featuring the following articles:

• Dual Legal Actions to Reduce Pollution that Fouls Illinois Water and Fuels Gulf Dead Zone
• Standing Up for Science Education
• It All Started with Crawdads and Turtles
• Help Protect the Shawnee National Forest from a Strip Mine
• Board of Directors Update
• Study Shines Light on How to Stop Carp, Improve the Chicago River

Also, see our 2011 Annual Report.

Elliot goes to Washington

Earlier this month, Prairie Rivers Network Habitat Conservation Specialist, Elliot Brinkman, traveled to Washington, D.C. to help educate legislators about the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program.

This program provides federal grant funds for projects that benefit wildlife and their habitats and gives priority to species of greatest conservation concern. It is also the primary funding source for states to implement their Wildlife Action Plans. In Illinois, these funds have been used for a number of successful restoration and research projects, many of which assessed and improved the quality of habitats in and along streams and rivers. {Continue Reading »}