Please contact LaSalle County Board members and tell them to protect Starved Rock by not permitting the sand mine.

If you have time for just one call, the board chair is Jerry Hicks, 815-795-2608.

A proposed sand mine adjacent to Starved Rock State Park could drain a rare, brackish wetland, with high quality plant communities and specific habitat for threatened and endangered species. The noise generated from blasting and constant truck traffic will have a negative impact on the wildlife populations that inhabit the area.

Starved Rock State Park receives over 2 million visitors annually; many of whom come to view the abundant wildlife that occur in the area, such as the bald eagles that overwinter there and the white pelicans that migrate to the Illinois Valley in spring and fall.

It’s not too late to let members of the LaSalle County Board know that you oppose locating this mine near Starved Rock. Please take the time to call board members and voice your concern.

In December, the LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously in favor of the Permit. However, the proposal will go before the full LaSalle County Board on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 for a final vote.

Please contact the County Board Members or attend the County Board Meeting in support of Starved Rock State Park.

When: Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 1 PM

Where: Knights of Columbus Hall at 401 W. Main Street in Ottawa, Illinois

Prairie Rivers Network and Partners Press Obama Administration for Better Water Resource Planning

U.S. Army Engineers open the Morganza Spillway , Morganza, MS, to relieve pressure on the flood waters of the Mississippi River, on Saturday, May 15, 2011. Source: flickr/US Army Corp of Engineers Photo.

The 2011 floods and their aftermath will be a fact of life for many in the months and years to come. At this time, residents along the Missouri River are building additional levees or adding height to current levees in the hopes of avoiding floods from record high river levels. Floodgates of the Morganza and Bonne Carre spillways on the Mississippi River remain open almost a month after they were raised to lessen downstream flooding. In the last week, the Corps’ estimates of the cost to rebuild levees damaged by the Mississippi floods has increased from $1 to $2 billion dollars, and will certainly increase as more damage information becomes available. Clearly, it is past time for rethinking how we manage and live with the Big River.

Rethinking needs to begin with the White House and the US Army Corps of Engineers. In a letter to President Obama, sent June 21, 2011, Prairie Rivers Network and 44 other organizations are urging the Administration to revise the current federal water resources planning principles and guidelines (P & G) to ensure federal funds used for water resource management and project planning “protect and restore the natural flood fighting defenses of the nation’s river and wetlands.” {Continue Reading »}

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 27, 2011

Implications for Illinois waterways not yet known

Yesterday the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released draft guidance to provide clarification about which water bodies are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. The two agencies worked together to develop the new guidance on the regulatory program they both have a hand in implementing. The Act’s goal is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” by limiting how much pollution can be dumped into waterways.

The EPA has estimated that 1.6 million Illinois residents get their drinking water from waterways whose regulatory status was unclear. “This guidance is a welcome development. In Illinois, over half of our small streams and 150,000 acres of wetlands have been at risk for uncontrolled pollution and filling because of unclear rules. We’re not sure yet how the new guidance will change these numbers, but it looks to be a step in the right direction” said Glynnis Collins, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network, Illinois’ statewide river conservation organization. “We hope that the new guidance will lead to better protection of our drinking water and of the other essential services like flood protection and filtering pollution that our rivers, lakes, and wetlands provide Illinoisans.”

Since 1972 EPA and the Corps have enforced the Clean Water Act on “waters of the United States” until Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 created widespread uncertainty on the part of regulators and the regulated community about when water pollution must be authorized by a Clean Water Act permit.

The issue’s profile has risen in Washington DC during recent budget battles.  The House budget bill would have prevented federal agencies from taking the action announced yesterday, but the Senate refused to agree.

The draft guidance is on notice for a 60-day public comment period. It can be viewed here.  

According to Collins, “People should let their lawmakers know that they support protections for clean water – that we don’t want industry to have a pass to pollute what belongs to all of us, and is a vital foundation of our well being.”

Collins adds, “We shouldn’t forget Springfield either. States have broader authority than the federal government, and Illinois could drastically improve the health and safety of our waters by adopting rules and standards that are tougher than federal requirements; those rules could apply to all waters of the state too.”

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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 »}

Large numbers of Franklin County residents are expected to appear at this Thursday’s Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s hearing to voice their concerns about Sugar Camp Energy’s proposed mine. Issues related to the proposed underground mine range from insufficient mitigation for loss of streams and wetlands to negative impacts to water quality. We need your help to let IEPA know they cannot grant a permit for this mine unless these issues are addressed as required by the Clean Water Act. {Continue Reading »}

Proposed site for STAR bonds development in American Bottom floodplain.

Described variously as “TIF on steroids” or “Worst Bill Ever,” Illinois Senate Bill 1909 – the STAR Bonds Financing Act – gives money to private developers at Illinois state taxpayers’ expense to develop in the 100-year floodplain because “such sites are more likely to remain underutilized and undeveloped.” Eligible sites must be vacant and no less than 600 acres, at least 30 per cent of which is in the 100-year floodplain.

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