Illinois EPA Proposes to Allow Serial Polluter to Operate New Coal Strip Mine Upstream of Canton Lake

Help residents protect their drinking water and ask state regulators to do their jobs – sign the petition now!

Residents in Canton are worried about their drinking water. Unfortunately, they have good reason to be. Canton Lake, Copperas Creek, and the people who rely on them are under threat from a proposed 1,000-acre strip mine a mile upstream of Canton Lake.

Over 20,000 people rely on Canton Lake for their drinking water and have taken great lengths to protect this precious resource over the years. For many residents and others who travel to the region, this is an area valued for hunting along and fishing in Copperas Creek, the source for Canton Lake.

Any strip mine would be cause for concern; strip mining coal strips the land of trees and vegetation, regrades the land affecting drainage patterns, and creates water pollution. This would be bad for drinking water. But in this case, there is even more cause for concern. The operator of the mining company behind the proposal for the North Canton Mine (Capitol Resources Development Company) is the same operator for the company (Springfield Coal Company) that runs the Industry Mine. Springfield Coal Company is being sued by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan because the Industry Mine’s environmental compliance record is one of the worst for coal mines in Illinois. The case was originally brought by Prairie Rivers Network and the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club in 2009 due to the mine’s continuous violations of its current water permit dating back at least to 2004 and with over 300 Clean Water Act Violations in the past six years. {Continue Reading »}

Thank you to all of you who attended our 13th Annual Dinner in October. The chance to gather with like-minded river friends, old and new, is one of the highlights of the year for our staff and board members.

Please visit our flickr site for more pictures of our staff, board of directors, members and friends celebrating our rivers at the Annual Dinner.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Weighs In

In an editorial published in last Friday’s Los Angeles Times, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lisa Jackson called on U.S. Representatives to stop their unrelenting assault on our nation’s landmark environmental laws, including “an unprecedented rollback of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and our nation’s waste-disposal laws, all of which have successfully protected our families for decades.” (Read this excellent article, “‘Too Dirty to Fail’?” here).

Jackson lambastes the myth that protecting the environment and public health hurts the economy, calling it “a choice that’s been proved wrong for the four decades that the EPA has been in existence. No credible economist links our current economic crisis — or any economic crisis — to tough clean-air and clean-water standards.”

In today’s anti-environment climate in Washington and here in Illinois, clean air and clean water have become more politicized than ever. That’s why we need YOU to participate in the public process. In the next days and weeks you’ll hear more from us about how to get in touch with agency officials and your legislators to let them know that you support strong protections for clean water, including:

• Ask Illinois EPA to deny permits that would allow a coal fired power plant to dump more mercury into the Illinois River,  and that would allow a strip mine to open upstream of  Canton Lake, a drinking water and recreational resource for over 20,000 residents of Fulton County.

• Urge your Senators to vote against legislation that would strip EPA of its ability to protect clean water from toxic coal ash. Less than a week after the U.S. House passed H.R. 2377, an identical bill was introduced in the Senate.  Like H.R. 2273, the Senate bill seeks to eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to ensure that storage and disposal of coal ash waste protects the health of our rivers and communities. Not yet numbered, leading champions for the bill are U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.). Like the House version, the Senate bill lacks common sense safeguards that would protect communities from irresponsible coal ash dumping, and leave regulations up to the states. As the bill moves through the Senate, we will need your help to block or defeat it, and will let you know how best to make your concerns loud and clear.

• Let your legislators know that you support their efforts to defend Farm Bill conservation programs, our nation’s primary defense against agricultural pollution, which is not covered by the Clean Water Act. See Prairie Rivers Network Farm Bill priorities here.

View Prairie River Notes – Summer 2011 Newsletter  with the following articles.

• A Troubled History of Mississippi River Management
• Greetings from Glynnis
• Prairie Rivers Network Annual Dinner – Oct 14th
• Flooding Problems Best Solved with Nature Protection
• Sangamon River Wetlands Saved
• You’re Invited to Bag It Movie
• Preserving Wildlife Habitat for the Protection of Illinois Rivers
• River Steward Nominations
• Remember: You Live in a Watershed
• Upcoming Events

Lincoln Ash Quarry, Joliet

New Report Released Today

Listen to audio of the press conference.

In a new report released today titled “Illinois at Risk: Lax Safeguards and No Enforcement Endanger the Water, Air & Lives of Residents Near State’s Numerous Coal Ash Dumps” Prairie Rivers Network and the Environmental Integrity Project document new groundwater data and profiles of 10 contamination sites across the state showing the Illinois EPA’s failure to protect residents from coal ash pollution.

At the same time, Illinois Representatives have voted to take away U.S. EPA’s ability to implement federally enforceable safeguards which would prevent coal ash contamination cases from happening in the future, and guarantee that existing contamination sites are closed in a safe manner.

From the Executive Summary:

Coal combustion waste (CCW) or “coal ash” is a toxic byproduct of electricity generation that is contaminating water supplies and harming communities across Illinois due to the lax regulation by the state in the absence of minimum federal standards.

Illinois has the second highest number of contaminated coal ash dump sites in the United States. Data from groundwater sampling conducted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter called “IEPA”) at coal ash disposal sites in 2010 is now available, and the results are grim. IEPA found exceedances of health standards for contaminants commonly found in coal ash  in groundwater at all 22 sites evaluated in the state. Yet, in spite of years of documentation demonstrating that coal ash is polluting groundwater in communities across the state, Illinois regulators have done little to prevent or correct these ongoing problems.

As the 10 case studies compiled in this report from the Illinois communities of Joliet, Venice, Hutsonville, Coffeen, Industry, Murdock, Vermilion, Coulterville, and Farmersville demonstrate, state oversight of coal ash disposal has failed Illinois residents living near coal ash dumps.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (hereafter called “EPA”) is nearing completion on a national rulemaking that would set minimum common-sense safeguards for states to meet at coal ash dump sites.   In Illinois, hopes are high that federal safeguards will finally force IEPA to take stronger action to clean up contaminated coal ash sites and prevent more contamination from occurring at new ash disposal sites. Yet under the cover of the federal debt debate, many Illinois’ Members of Congress have just voted to take away EPA’s authority to stop this harm.

As part of a broader move to roll back clean water protections, Representatives from Illinois’ delegation including Representatives Peter Roskam (R. 6^th), Joe Walsh (R. 8^th), Robert Dold (R. 10^th), Adam Kinzinger (R. 11^th), Jerry Costello (D. 12^th), Judy Biggert (R. 13^th), Randy Hultgren (R. 14^th), Donald Manzullo (R. 16^th), Robert Schilling (R. 17^th), Aaron Schock (R. 18^th), and John Shimkus (R. 19^th) have voted to strip EPA’s ability to finalize their ongoing rulemaking which would provide Illinois residents relief from toxic coal ash pollution.

The following examination of coal ash dump sites and monitoring from IEPA reveals contamination of groundwater at many coal ash dump sites in Illinois, demonstrating why our federal legislators should step back and let EPA do its job to protect the drinking water and air of Americans living around coal ash sites in accordance with the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, (RCRA). 

Read Full Report: Illinois at Risk

Do you know a volunteer who is working hard to protect the state’s rivers and streams?

Kathy Andria Accepting 2010 River Steward Award

Help celebrate and elevate their important work by nominating them for our 7th annual River Steward Award. Deadline is September 9, 2011.

It is time once again to celebrate and elevate the important work of an individual whose work to protect the state’s rivers and streams inspires us. There are many dedicated citizen volunteers around our state that spend countless hours working to protect Illinois’ rivers. They educate us; they do the legwork; they speak the unpopular truths; they go above and beyond.

Too often, their outstanding efforts and successes are not known outside of their local community. The River Steward Award recognizes and celebrates the most exemplary nomination, and it will collect stories of work that we all need to hear. Prairie Rivers Network wants to recognize and celebrate the people who make these achievements possible, sharing their victories and inspiring other river advocates around the state.

The seventh annual River Steward Award will be announced October 14, 2011 at Prairie Rivers Network’s Annual Dinner. The honoree and a guest, as well as the nominator, will be invited to attend the dinner for the awards ceremony. The award recipient will also be announced to the river conservation community around the state, announced to the media in a press release, and posted on our website.

Past Winners Include

Kathy Andria, 2010

Gary Mechanic, 2009

Joyce Blumenshine, 2008

Mary Pat Holtschlag, 2007

Fran Caffee, 2006

Jan Holder, 2005

Nomination Procedure

If you know a citizen volunteer you would like to nominate as the next River Steward, please e-mail the following information to Steph Adams at sadams at prairierivers.org or call her at 217/344-2371 for more information:

• Nominee’s contact information
• Your contact information
• Nominee qualifications (500 words):
  • Summary of their river conservation efforts
  • General background information concerning the river/watershed of interest
  • The specific work for which the nominee deserves recognition

Deadline: Nominations must be received by September 9, 2011.