• For Immediate Release - April 20, 2001

PRAIRIE RIVERS TO TAKE ACTION IF ILLEGAL POLLUTION DOES NOT CEASE

In February Black Beauty Coal Company illegally discharged over one ton of sediment and suspended solids into a creek on the west side of the Vermilion Grove Mine. Prairie Rivers Network uncovered this information while reviewing Illinois EPA documents concerning the mine. A water pollution permit for the Vermilion Grove Mine was issued by Illinois EPA on December 27, 2000.

"Just weeks after beginning operations, they’d illegally dumped over one ton of material into a small creek," said Robert Moore, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network.

Prairie Rivers has opposed the mine for over a year and has repeatedly warned that the mine would release pollution that could harm water quality in the region, including Georgetown’s drinking water supply.

"They can’t even comply with a permit which was underprotective in the first place," added Moore.

Today Prairie Rivers Network notified Black Beauty Coal Company that it would file suit under the federal Clean Water Act within 60 days unless the illegal discharges cease.  Under the Clean Water Act citizens are required to give the offender 60 days notice before filing suit.  USEPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, Illinois EPA Director Tom Skinner, and Governor George Ryan were also notified of Prairie Rivers’ actions.

According to documents submitted by Black Beauty to Illinois EPA the company exceeded the Daily Maximum and 30 Day Average Concentration Limits for Total Suspended Solids that were specified in its water pollution permit.  Total Suspended Solids includes particles of organic matter and soil that cloud water and lead to siltation.  Lake Georgetown is already impaired by excessive siltation.

The discharges, which took place in February, cumulatively dumped more than one ton of sediment into a small creek on the west side of the mine.  Other violations of certain monitoring provisions in the permit were also documented by Prairie Rivers Network.

Illinois EPA has not initiated any type of enforcement action at this time.  Moore said, "Prairie Rivers has been concerned about pollution from the mine since it was first proposed."

Prairie Rivers Network is currently appealing the water pollution permit on the grounds that the permit conditions are not protective of water quality.  Prairie Rivers also maintains that the mine poses a threat to three state protected species known to exist in the river.  The Illinois Pollution Control Board will hear the appeal on May 1st and 2nd.

The mining permit issued by Illinois Department of Natural Resources is also being appealed by Prairie Rivers Network.  The organization maintains that the mine will degrade water quality and that the permit should never have been issued because of past violations of environmental laws and regulations by Black Beauty and its parent company, Peabody Coal.

Last year Governor George Ryan gave Black Beauty $700,000 to support their mines in the area near the Vermilion Grove Mine.