The latest train incident causing a spill of petroleum products into an Illinois waterway happened in the small village of Sidney. Last Saturday, Sidney residents smelled diesel fuel and then saw it in the creek that drains into the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River in eastern Champaign County. The source was a Union Pacific train that […]
Pollution
State Strategy Falls Flat as Overload of Nutrients Harms Illinois Waters
CHAMPAIGN, IL — Yesterday’s release of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture importantly recognizes one of the state’s most serious water pollution problems: Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from farms and sewage treatment plants harming Illinois waters and contributing to the dead zone in the Gulf of […]
A rural paradise lost
David Leifheit once lived on “a little slice of heaven” in Ogle County, about halfway between the churning metropolis of Chicago and the muddy waters of the Mississippi River, Illinois’ western border. He proudly maintained the home he built himself on his mother’s ancestral land – land homesteaded by his great-great-grandparents over 150 years ago. The house sat at the edge […]
Comment Now on Bulldog Mine Permit
After years of attempting to obtain a coal mining permit, Sunrise Coal’s application for the Bulldog Mine has been deemed “complete” by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). A “complete” permit does not mean that the permit has been issued; rather, IDNR has determined that the permit contains “information addressing each application requirement” and […]
Video: Potential Coal Ash Spill on Illinois’ only National Scenic River?
The Dynegy Vermilion coal-fired power plant closed in 2011, leaving behind three large ash pits containing millions of gallons of coal combustion waste laced with toxic heavy metals and carcinogens, the result of years of burning coal. All three pits are located in the floodplain; two of the pits are unlined and actively leaching into […]
