Tag Archives: public hearing

Citizens to Protest IDNR Flawed Mine Permit Renewal

Posted on by
What: Public Protest Demonstration of IDNR Coal Mine Permit Renewal
When: Wednesday, February 19, 2014, beginning at 5:15 p.m.
Where: public sidewalk across from the Historic Courthouse, Hillsboro, south sidewalk,  at #1 Public Square, Hillsboro, at the Abraham Lincoln statue.
Citizens are protesting the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) permit for the Deer Run Mine at a public demonstration at 5:15 p.m. February 19th, across from the Historic Courthouse Public Square in Hillsboro. The state is considering an additional five-year permit renewal approval for the same permit that was challenged by area residents and Sierra Club in 2009 for being incomplete and not protective of the local environment and community.
            IDNR should re-examine the Cumulative Hydrologic  Impact Assessment for this coal mine since the mine’s full impacts on area water resources have not been fully addressed. Citizens Against Longwall Mining (CALM) is opposed to the underground longwall mining method used at the mine, which removes nearly the entire coal seam and drops or subsides the surface of the ground often four to six feet with earthquake like impacts. The group is concerned because the Deer Run Mine is covering hundreds of acres of farmland with massive toxic coal slurry impoundments. Once the massive coal waste impoundments are built they will not be cleared away and the land cannot be returned to farming.
             The original permit approved by IDNR in 2009 did not supply specific locations for the coal slurry waste impoundments under the five-year permit. In 2010, the mine filed for and received approval for a major revision that drastically altered an in-ground coal waste pond into an 80-foot-high, approximately 140-acre high hazard impoundment.  Last year the mine applied for a new permit for a nearly 300-acre, 65-foot-tall impoundment which could be the second high hazard dam coal slurry structure at the site. This high hazard impoundment is twice the size of the first impoundment and is located closer to residents in Hillsboro and Schram City. High Hazard dams mean that a dam break could cause injury to property and possibly loss of life.
            The groundwater and drainage around the mine here at Hillsboro are at risk. Future generations will have to deal with what happens to the very shallow underground water levels and the potential for contamination since underground layers here have areas of sand that can allow pollution to travel more quickly and in unexpected ways.
            The Deer Run Mine permit is held by Hillsboro Energy, LLC, which is a Foresight Reserves corporate entity linked to the Natural Resource Partners mining conglomerate that began in West Virginia and is headed by coal billionaire Chris Cline.
            IDNR is holding a public hearing on the renewal of the Deer Run Mine permit at 6 p.m. in the second floor boardroom of the historic courthouse in Hillsboro at #1 Public Square.

Public Hearing, 5-Year Renewal, Deer Run Mine Permit #399

Posted on by

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is holding a public comment hearing on the five year renewal for the Deer Run Mine permit #399, which includes the coal processing plant.

Where: Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, No. 1 Courthouse Square, Hillsboro, IL
second floor county board room.

When: February 19, 2014, 6 PM

History

Deer Run Mine has been operating since 2011. Subsequent to its approval in 2009, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources / Office of Mines and Minerals allowed the construction of an 80-foot tall, one square-mile coal slurry impoundment instead of the in-ground facility proposed during the permit application review and public hearing process. This facility, which contains highly toxic, carcinogenic chemicals and organic compounds that cannot be recycled or reused, is located in the City of Hillsboro, next to a hospital; school; nursing home; and day care center. It is rated as a high hazard dam, which means that if the coal slurry impoundment were to fail, it would result in loss of life and property in Hillsboro and Schram City, and could send pollution downstream into the watershed of Lake Hillsboro.

Now a second high-hazard coal slurry impoundment will be constructed next to the first, since the first impoundment was designed to last just five years.  It will be twice the size as the first, covering an area 1/2 miles by two miles. It, too, will be located in the City of Hillsboro.

Since 2009, Citizens Against Longwall Mining and the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club have been petitioning the IDNR / OMM for an administrative review hearing regarding the approval of #399 that was incomplete, invalid, and misleading.  The incised waste refuse area approved in Permit #399 was changed through “insignificant revisions” to become an enclosed  impoundment with a synthetic liner.  Hillsoboro Energy then applied for a Significant Revision to Permit #399 to raise the already constructed base of the impoundment to a height of 80 feet. There have been 4 permit applications to OMM by Hillsboro Energy:

  • The original Permit #399.
  • Significant Revision 1 of Permit# 399 for impoundment 1.
  • Permit #424 for the 2nd impoundment.
  • Renewal of Permit #399.

On  October 31, 2013, a new IDNR Hearing Officer dismissed CALM’s petition to challenge Permit #399.  See Administrative Review Testimony on Deer Run Mine Not Allowed by Office of Mines and Minerals. Citizens are greatly concerned about the power of IDNR / OMM to make changes they deem acceptable to coal mining permits as “Insignificant Revisions,” which are not placed on public notice and have no comment opportunity. See more at Citizens Against Longwall Mining.

Permit Renewal
On February 19, 2014, the IDNR/OSM will be holding a public hearing to review the 5-year Permit #399 that includes the now-functioning coal slurry impoundment.  The hearing will take place at Montgomery County’s Historic Courthouse at 6pm.