The Department of Natural Resources is now confirming that approximately 40,000 fish were killed in sections of Lone Tree Creek and the Sangamon River as a result of pollution released into the waters over the Labor Day weekend. Also killed were endangered mudpuppies, mussels and crayfish. A full investigation is still underway.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reported water samples taken from the affected streams contained ammonia. While the agency has not yet revealed the source of the spill, the pollution likely drained off a field located on the Stone Ridge Dairy Farm in McLean County. Constructed in 2002, Stone Ridge is Illinois’ largest dairy farm, with 3,100 cows.
“This total kill is an unfortunate example of why we need more protective, clear laws in Illinois regarding managing waste from large factory farms,” said Glynnis Collins, executive director of Prairie Rivers Network (PRN). “From a single spill, the people of Illinois have lost tens of thousands of fish and other aquatic animals. We will be communicating closely with state agencies as the investigation progresses to ensure they respond adequately to this disaster.” {Continue Reading »}
Yesterday, a major new study was released that identifies 39 additional coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals. Three of those sites are in Illinois. The report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice and the Sierra Club, with help from Prairie Rivers Network’s Traci Barkley, documents the fact that state governments are not adequately monitoring the coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites and that the USEPA needs to enact strong new regulations to protect the public.
The report shows that, at every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells, concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at the Venice, IL site reaching as high as 38 times the federal standard for arsenic 400 feet beyond the ash ponds.
Take Action – Let Your Voice Be Heard
The US Environmental Protection Agency is about to launch a series of regional hearings on whether and how to regulate toxic coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants. PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN.
Chicago, IL on September 16
Louisville, KY on September 28
Financial assitance is available to defray some travel costs. Contact Traci Barkley at 217/344-2371 or tbarkley@prairierivers.org.
CHAMPAIGN, IL — Long before the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico suffered from a chronic spill of chemicals that rush down the Mississippi River from Illinois and other Midwestern states. The influx of pollution results in an area appropriately known as the Dead Zone. Scientists from Louisiana just finished their annual research cruise of the Gulf and determined that this year the Dead Zone was 7,722 square miles, one of the largest since the cruises began in 1985 and almost the size of Massachusetts.
The Dead Zone is characterized by water so low in dissolved oxygen (<2 mg/L) that animals suffocate. When shrimp, crab, and other relatively immobile species cannot escape, fishermen must move to cleaner waters.
The primary cause of the Dead Zone is too many nutrients. According to recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois is the number one contributor of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to the Gulf of Mexico. {Continue Reading »}
Over 100 people crowded the hall of a church in Broadlands, Illinois for an informational meeting on the proposed coal mine in Champaign and Vermilion Counties. The meeting, held Thursday July 8, was initiated by a local farmer and landowner, Charles Goodall of Sidell.
Charles Goodall, farmer and PRN board member
Mr. Goodall said he organized the informational meeting after attending a Farm Bureau-sponsored review of the mineral leases used by Sunrise Coal, the Terre Haute company that intends to operate the mine.
“It became increasingly clear that Sunrise Coal has been flying under the radar, trying to sign landowners one at a time while avoiding open public discussion of the many important issues raised by proposing to mine coal in an agricultural community based on highly productive, level, prime farmland,” said Mr. Goodall, “The public needs to know what Sunrise is actually planning.” {Continue Reading »}
The discovery of spawning Asian carp in the Wabash River shows the crisis is advancing on multiple fronts and demands aggressive and immediate action to deal with the Asian carp crisis, says a coalition of national and Great Lakes groups.
The carp were found downstream of a floodplain that separates the Wabash from the Maumee River and Lake Erie, near the city of Fort Wayne, Ind., according to recent press and congressional statements.
The discovery and acknowledgment of the finding by the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee comes a week after the committee announced a live Asian carp was found just six miles from Lake Michigan in Chicago’s Lake Calumet. The 3-foot-long, 20-pound sexually mature male was the first Asian carp found beyond the last locks protecting the Great Lakes, and miles beyond the electric barrier meant to keep the devastating fish out of the lakes.
Fish finding affirms eDNA testing and points to need for aggressive action to stave off fish invaders
PRESS RELEASE
June 23,2010
Asian carp captured in Lake Calumet on 6/22/10 (IDNR)
The nightmare scenario of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes through Chicago waterways is closer to reality as the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee announced today that they had captured an invasive bighead carp [a species of invasive Asian carp] in Lake Calumet, 6 miles away from Lake Michigan. The fish’s capture bolsters repeated environmental DNA tests which have shown that the carp have evaded an electrical barrier intended to prevent their movement out of canals artificially connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River system. Scientists and government regulators agree that the invasive fish pose a dire threat to the Lakes because of their size and voracious appetites.
The Department of Natural Resources is now confirming that approximately 40,000 fish were killed in sections of Lone Tree Creek and the Sangamon River as a result of pollution released into the waters over the Labor Day weekend. Also killed were endangered mudpuppies, mussels and crayfish. A full investigation is still underway.
