Defeat stings; especially when snatched from the jaws of victory.
On March 11th, 2013, Prairie Rivers Network and our friends at Stand Up To Coal were saddened that the Homer Village Board reversed its earlier decision, and voted to sell potable water and sewer services to Sunrise Coal – a subsidiary of Hallador Energy – for their proposed mine in southwest Vermilion County.
After more than a year of organizing, with hundreds of local farmers and residents turning out to meetings, going door-to-door, collecting petition signatures, and talking to their elected officials, we had hoped that our message of protecting clean water and healthy communities would prevail. It didn’t. But, ultimately, we still hope we will.
Although the loss in Homer is a setback, it only marks the beginning of a larger process that will determine whether or not coal mining will return to the watershed of the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River.
Access to potable water was the first hurdle Sunrise needed to clear, but by no means the biggest. Still needed to open a coal mine are:
- Raw water to wash coal – and lots of it. We still don’t think they can get enough, whether from the Salt Fork River, area groundwater, or other sources without triggering detrimental ecological consequences and threatening other water users.
- More coal – the current reserve is a patchwork, and holdout farmers and landowners are not willing to put their livelihoods at risk by signing a lease.
- More land – because township roads can’t support mine trucks, there is no way to get the coal to market without the mine acquiring more land to build a railroad spur.
- Permits from Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mines Safety and Health Administration. None of these have been issued, and all can be appealed.
Along with our partners, we will continue to work with community members to insist that local decision makers put clean water and healthy communities first. We extend our deepest thanks to all our members, volunteers and friends who have supported this work so far, and look forward to a successful future.
Updated on March 18, 2013 with press coverage:
News Gazette: Homer board reverses voted on water, sewer services for coal mine (March 11, 2013) (PDF)
Illinois Public Media: Homer board reverses February vote for coal mine (March 12, 2013) (PDF)
VermilionCountyFirst.com: Sunrise Coal wins a reversal on water (March 18, 2013) (PDF)
