Sunrise Coal’s mine in Carlisle, Indiana
Stand Up To Coal and other stakeholders will meet at the Homer United Methodist Church, at 7:00pm, Wednesday, June 27th, 2012.
All who are concerned about Sunrise Coal, LLC’s proposed mine in Vermilion County are invited to participate. We will continue our discussion of how to protect the community’s quality of life, land and water from the proposed coal mine.
Sunrise Coal Mine, Carlisle, Indiana
Adapted with permission from Prairie Rivers Network.
On Wednesday evening, over 100 residents, farmers, landowners and Salt Fork River stakeholders turned out to an informational meeting and public forum at the Salt Fork Center at Homer Lake.
Traci Barkley, Water Resources Scientist with Prairie Rivers Network, gave a presentation on the threats to clean and abundant water from a proposed underground coal mine east of the Village of Homer in Vermilion County, Illinois.
Residents and landowners share concerns
There is too much at stake with too little information disclosed. Over 19,500 acres worth of mineral rights have already been signed over to Sunrise Coal yet we don’t know whether this will be a room and pillar or longwall mine, where the water will come from, where the wastewater will be discharged to and where the toxic coal slurry pits will be built. This has gotten too far with too little oversight.
Late this morning representatives of Champaign and Vermilion county residents, including stakeholders along the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River held a press conference at the Homer Village Hall. This site was chosen because reports that the Village of Homer was talking to Sunrise Coal about using local water in the proposed coal mining and washing project had appeared in the Leader and News Gazette.
The speakers came with questions and essentially asked for a seat at the table when questions related to water and coal mining are discussed. Speakers included community members Sue Smith, Peter Kuchinke each of whom described Homer as a great place to live, and called for protections for its drinking water and the water of the nearby Salt Fork River.
Expectation by citizens that governmental processes be transparent is reasonable. “Citizens have a right to know what the officials they have chosen to serve them are doing.†said one speaker. The supporting presence of citizens may also strengthen local officials as they talk with Sunrise.
Alan Kurtz from the Champaign County Board spoke about the need to protect the prime farmland of the county. The Board is waiting for an opinion from the Illinois Attorney about the authority of Champaign to regulate local mining activities.  He has no timeline for this opinion. Continue reading
Old Murdock Mine is now a disposal site for coal ash, sewage sludge and other industrial waste
An excerpt of this commentary appeared in the Sidell Reporter on 7/7/2011.
In a recent commentary in the Danville Commercial News, a former coalmine subcontractor from Catlin, Illinois shared his perspective on Sunrise Coal, LLC’s (Sunrise) proposal to mine coal in the farm communities of Allerton, Homer, Fairmount, and Sidell (AHFS).
There is another perspective. Today, coal’s downsides – damage to local resources and harm to public health – are widely recognized. Cleaner and healthier sources of renewable energy are available now. When we know there is a better way, it’s time to move in that direction.
Although abandoning coal will not happen immediately, the transition to cleaner energy options is already underway. Old coal plants are being retired and many proposed new coal plants are being canceled because the benefits are not worth the risks.
States’ licensing of coal plants is slowing. In June 2007, Florida’s Public Service Commission refused to license a huge $5.7 billion, 1,960-megawatt coal plant because the utility proposing it could not prove that building the plant would be cheaper than investing in conservation, efficiency, or renewable energy.
Bank lending for coal plants is slowing. In February 2008, investment banks Morgan Stanley, Citi, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America announced that any future lending for coal-fired power would be contingent on the utilities demonstrating that the plants would be economically viable with the higher costs associated with future federal restrictions on carbon emissions.
The U.S. is also on the path away from coal by becoming more efficient. Increased efficiency is the most cost-effective new source of energy. Other countries, Denmark and Japan for example, enjoy services similar to ours, but use much less energy.
Mining and processing of coal usually bring long-term consequences to communities like ours that may outweigh benefits. Coal slurry – the used wastewater from washing coal – contains dangerous heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium that contaminate local drinking water. Coal dust blowing from processing plants increases asthma and respiratory disease. Undermined areas are weakened, and are less able to attract new construction because risk is higher. Illinois has no shortage of failed coal towns. Continue reading
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Vermilion County Board, farmers and rural residents boarded a bus to Danville to call on board members to send a strong message against coal mining in Vermilion County by passing a resolution to protect local farmland and water resources.
“In today’s high-population world, food production trumps everything. We’d be foolish to buy into a scheme that damages the land, water, health resources and long-term viability of our communities,” explained retired Sidell farmer and Stand Up To Coal co-founder Charles Goodall.
The Vermilion County Board has a chance to be leader in the state by taking innovative steps to protect resources from coal mining. By acting on this resolution the County Board would send a strong message that it intends to play an active role in protecting the County’s resources from destructive coal mining and coal waste disposal.
Board members need to hear from their constituents how the proposed mine would affect them! Please call your Vermilion County Board Members at (217) 554-6000 or reach them by email to let them know that you support Stand Up To Coal’s proposed resolution, and that you want them to protect local farms and water to the fullest extent.
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