In 2019, a year in which the Illinois legislature is seriously considering the pathway to 100% clean energy, Illinois is also on the verge of approving a new underground coal mine in Vermilion County. After nearly 10 years in review, the mining permit for Sunrise Coal’s Bulldog Mine has been issued. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources approved the permit after Sunrise Coal’s made multiple revisions to it. These revisions were made in response to public comment on the first draft at a hearing that took place over four years ago, resulting in a letter that required over 60 changes be made. Sunrise Coal (which recently hired Scott Pruitt as their lobbyist) was given a year to respond to those modifications and then two extensions for a total of two and a half years to finish revisions.
Despite the years that Sunrise Coal has been given to tweak their permit application, those who are concerned about the mine now have just 30 days (from April 5th) to file for Administrative Review, their last chance to challenge the permit. Members of the public who will be impacted by the mine can file for review, but the process will require technical and legal experts to review the mining permit (in just 30 days) to see if it meets the letter of the law. The clock is counting down to assess over two thousand pages of material.
Many local residents are concerned about long-term harmful impacts coal mining can have on their communities: contaminating wells and groundwater, polluting air from dirty coal dust, impacting roads from heavy trucks, and contamination from toxic chemicals that can leak from above ground slurry impoundments to neighboring farmland long after mining has ceased. The Salt Fork of the Vermilion River will bear the burden of the discharges from this mine.
Stand Up To Coal, a 100% grassroots and volunteer group, has worked tirelessly to protect their land, water, air, and communities from the impacts of this proposed mine for nearly a decade. Prairie Rivers Network has long supported Stand Up To Coal and has opposed the mine to protect the Salt Fork River. Please consider supporting the expenses for technical and legal expertise in this final step to challenge the Bulldog mine permit.
