photo credit: www.jasonlindsey.com

A December 17th public hearing has been set for a new coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal site at the Coffeen Power Plant near Coffeen Lake. The new CCW landfill will include a dry landfill cell encompassing approximately 22 acres, with future expansions adding up to 2 additional cells covering 65 acres. The ash pond that has been closed and capped, yet is leaching, covers 57 acres. Leachate from the landfill, old ash pond and stormwater runoff from the site will contribute additional pollution to the already impaired Coffeen Lake, a popular recreational and subsistence fishing spot.

Read the public notice and draft permit about the public hearing to be held on December 17th and PRN letter requesting the public hearing. Learn how you can get involved here.

Prairie Rivers Network thanks you for caring about our rivers!

This is a great time to give because Bruce Semans has offered to match all new and increased donations through the end of 2009. Please help us double your support by making a membership donation to help fund our clean water agenda for the coming year:

Inspiring River Champions

We are partnering with the Illinois Natural History Survey to engage and educate communities in Central Illinois with a rivers-themed Traveling Science Center and River Discovery courses that will reach tens of thousands of schoolchildren and community members.

Fighting Pollution

We are launching a major initiative to decrease harmful effects of our reliance on coal in Illinois; we will work with partners to fight for less water pollution and habitat destruction from mining, processing, and burning coal in power plants and from disposal of toxic coal ash.

Saving Habitat and Water Supply

We are laying the groundwork for river restoration along the Vermilion River and the Mississippi River as well as other high-priority areas defined by the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan. We are also reviewing Illinois water law, to determine how it can be improved to provide protection for healthy stream flows and fair resolution of conflicts in the event of water shortages.

Be a part of the network - DONATE NOW by clicking the appropriate membership level:

Membership Levels

• $25 Student Membership
• $50 Basic Membership
• $100 River Sustainers
• $250 River Guardians
• $500 River Stewards
• $1000 River Protectors
• Other Amount

IMPORTANT NOTE: Your online contribution will be processed by taking you to the secure PayPal website where you will be asked to create a PayPal account or enter your name, address, and credit card information. PayPal is a widely used, secure system for sending money through the Internet. Your credit card information will be available only to PayPal, and will be kept secure in keeping with their privacy policies. Please be sure to enter your correct mailing address.

We need to know what rivers you recreate on – paddling, fishing, hiking…

This information helps us
argue for their protection.

Prairie Rivers Network needs your participation. We are collecting data on where our members and supporters wade, swim, fish, and paddle. This is important. There are many situations in which we are asked to prove that people are in contact with the water, or else – so the logic goes – it can be polluted. Please call us at (217) 344-2371 or send an email to info@prairierivers.org to let us know where you, or your children or grandchildren, play.

A Message from the Director of IDNR

As Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, I believe it is important to hear from our constituents. I urge you to TAKE OUR ON-LINE SURVEY to tell us your opinions on important natural resources and outdoor recreation policy issues.The survey asks your opinions about public access on land for recreational activities, programming and recruiting for youth outdoor nature-related activities, and options to fund conservation and outdoor recreation.

Answers are confidential, and will not be attributed to you. Survey results will be presented at the Conservation Congress (a gathering of Department constituents to develop policy recommendations for elected and appointed officials) in October to inform the debate.

Yours in Conservation,
Marc Miller, Director
Illinois Department of Natural Resources

The survey closes on October 16 so don’t delay. If you are a resident of Illinois, we want to hear from you.

Proposed site for STAR bonds development in the American Bottom Floodplain

In the final hours before his August 30th deadline for taking action, Governor Quinn issued an “amendatory veto” on the STAR Bonds Financing Act (Senate Bill 1909). The Bill sets up a mechanism for public financing of large commercial developments in blighted urban areas. Prairie Rivers Network, along with many of our partners (Sierra Club – Illinois Chapter and Kaskaskia Group, American Bottom Conservancy, Illinois Environmental Council), opposed the Bill throughout the 2009 Legislative Session because it includes the ludicrous provision that eligible projects must be at least partly located in floodplains. This provision is part of the Bill in order to target the taxpayer subsidy to a specific development, a mega- shopping mall and entertainment complex in and along the floodplain of the Mississippi River in Glen Carbon, IL (metro East St. Louis area). We are pleased that the Governor has requested lower subsidies than were proposed by Bill Sponsor Senator James Clayborne, of Belleville. However, we are disappointed that the issue of floodplain development has not been addressed. {Continue Reading »}

Chemical drift occurs when pesticides are blown downwind when applied to fields. Currently farmers are not required to alert their downwind neighbors that chemicals might be floating their way. Children have been sprayed, organic farms have been sprayed, and we all get an extra dose of chemical pollution in our waterways. {Continue Reading »}