Bulldog Mine Public Informational Meeting in Georgetown

Posted on July 11, 2013 by sutc

 Stand Up to Coal and Prairie Rivers Network Present on Coal and Water Issues 

Wednesday, July 17th 2013 at 6:00 pm

What: Members of Stand Up to Coal and Prairie Rivers Network are holding a public informational meeting to address the concerns of Georgetown, Illinois and neighboring Indiana residents regarding the recent decision by the Georgetown city council to sell water to Sunrise Coal’s Bulldog mine. The meeting will feature an overview of the mine’s threats to farmland, water, and communities and personal accounts by residents whom the mine would affect.

Who: Stand Up To Coal and Prairie Rivers Network

When: Wednesday, July 17th 6:00-7:00pm

Where: Maple Grove Lodge

Forest Glen Preserve
20301 E 900 North Rd.
Westville, IL 61883

Directions: Enter park at location shown below on the map. Follow main road all the way through park until it ends at Maple Grove Lodge. There are signs in the park directing you to Maple Grove Lodge.

Contact: For more information, please contact Tyler Rotche, 630.207.0406 trotche@prairierivers.org


View Forest Glen Preserve in a larger map

 

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Georgetown Agrees To Sell Raw Water to Sunrise Coal

Posted on June 19, 2013 by sutc

On Monday evening, the Village of Georgetown trustees voted unanimously in favor of a contract to provide 300,000-500,000 gallons of water per day to Sunrise Coal (Hallador Energy) for washing coal at their proposed Bulldog Mine.  Georgetown gets its water from two wells near Cayuga, IN.

On one hand, this surprise raises serious concerns as Sunrise Coal moves one step closer to having the necessary assets to complete their mining permit.

On the other hand, this is a “win” for the Salt Fork River because this move removes the threat of Sunrise Coal taking water from the Salt Fork.  It seems that the pressure applied by Stand Up To Coal to Champaign County officials was deemed to be more than Sunrise wanted to fight.  They took the more expensive and logistically difficult option of buying water from Georgetown and piping it to their surface facility near Homer.

Now is the time to contact Vermilion County Board representatives and Georgetown trustees and citizens.  They should be encouraged to continue opposing Sunrise Coal and their efforts to bring a new mine to Vermilion County.  While Vermilion County does not have zoning laws that can be used to outright stop the mine, there are several statutes that empower the Vermilion County Board to enforce water and air pollution.

Per Chapter 55 of our Illinois Compiled Statues which contains the provisions relating to our county boards, the county board appears to have abilities to address the following threats from underground coal mining and surface coal processing activities:

-  to appropriate funds from the county treasury and loan such funds to a county water commission (under the Water Commission Act

– to control and regulate the disposal of sewage, refuse, and any other wastes from any premises within the borders of the county, except with respect to waste management in a municipality that has severed itself from county jurisdiction under Section 5‑15006, and to this end may adopt suitable ordinances.

-  to prevent pollution of any stream or any other body of water within the county and to cause any and all parties, persons, firms and corporations to cease any and all pollution of any such streams or body of water within such county; provided that the authority of the Pollution Control Board of the State of Illinois shall not be superseded.

– The county board of any county which is served by a community water supply well may perform a groundwater protection needs assessment, and may by ordinance adopt a minimum or maximum setback zone around a wellhead pursuant to Sections 14.2, 14.3, 14.4 and 17.1 of the Environmental Protection Act.

– to appropriate and expend funds from the county treasury for economic development purposes, including the making of grants to any other governmental entity or commercial enterprise deemed necessary or desirable for the promotion of economic development in the county.

Press Coverage

Commercial-News: June 17

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Public Informational Meeting – Tuesday June 18

Posted on June 11, 2013 by sutc

When: Tuesday, June 18, 7:00pm

Where: University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign

Join us at the University YMCA to hear presentations by members of the Champaign and Homer communities, Stand Up to Coal, and the Prairie Rivers Network regarding Sunrise Coal’s (Hallador Energy) proposed Bulldog Mine and its potential impacts. 

This will be a great opportunity to discuss the Bulldog Mine issues and to learn about mine-related and water-related issues being discussed at the Champaign County Board committee level.

If you’re familiar with the issues, come and support the cause.  If you’re new to the cause, come out and join us to learn how the proposed mine could affect you and how you can help stop it.

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Krannert’s “Outside at the Research Park” – Friday, June 14

Posted on June 7, 2013 by sutc

When: Friday, June 14, 6:00pm

Where: UI Research Park, 1816 South Oak St., Champaign … Opening act begins at 6:30 pm

Krannert Center presents a three-show series of summer concerts.

As a community partner at the event, Prairie Rivers Network will be speaking about their work to protect clean water and healthy rivers in Illinois.

PRN will be tabling on several campaigns, including Sunrise Coal’s (Hallador Energy) proposed Bulldog Mine. This will be a great opportunity to collect petition signatures, inform attendees about the proposed coal mine, and encourage concert-goers to contact the Champaign County Board in support of the resolution to protect the Salt Fork of the Vermillion River.

CU’s own Mhondoro Rhythm Success features Zimbabwean pop songs that blend traditional regional music with electric guitar…http://www.krannertcenter.com/performance.aspx?id=2013521134820371128174106178

 

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Champaign County ELUC Meeting – Thursday, June 6

Posted on June 5, 2013 by sutc

When: Thursday, June 6, 6:00pm

Where: Lyle Shields Meeting Room, Brookens Administrative Center, 1776 E. Washington St., Urbana

After tabling it at their last meeting, the Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) of the Champaign County Board will consider a resolution opposing water withdrawals from the Salt Fork River for washing coal at Hallador Energy and Sunrise Coal’s proposed Bulldog mine southeast of Homer.

This will be an important meeting with a need for a strong public presence. The link to the agenda is included below:

http://www.co.champaign.il.us/countybd/ELUC/2013/130606agenda.pdf

In April, the News-Gazette reported that Hallador Energy’s Sunrise Coal has approached the Urbana Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD) with a request to guarantee that their Urbana sewage treatment plant will discharge between 325,000 to 540,000 gallons per day that the mine would withdraw from the Salt Fork River to wash coal at their proposed coal mine.

Clean sewage treatment plant effluent from UCSD helps protect the health of the Salt Fork River, particularly during low flow times of the year. After months of deliberation, the Homer Village Board came to a unanimous decision against selling raw water to Sunrise coal, determining that the area’s water resources should not be used to wash coal. Area residents and farmers are concerned that Sunrise’s underground coal mine and surface coal washing and waste disposal will deplete water resources, pollute the Salt Fork River, and damage farmland.

The County Board has a crucial opportunity to protect Champaign County’s clean water and healthy farmland, by voting yes on the resolution opposing water sales to to the proposed coal mine.

TAKE ACTION: Let Your County Board members know you support protecting the Salt Fork River and farmland from coal mine – ask them to vote yes on the resolution!

Environment and Land Use Committee:

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