The proposed toxic coal waste impoundment will be nearly twice the size of the existing one pictured here.
The Hillsboro Energy, LLC Deer Run Mine located within the city limits of the City of Hillsboro in Montgomery County has been a source of frustration for area residents since its inception nine years ago. The June 4th, Illinois EPA permit hearing regarding pollution discharges from a new, giant coal waste disposal area at the mine was no exception.
Many residents in Montgomery County have now experienced the harm from the operations at Deer Run Mine for the last 5 years. If residents are unhappy with the first 5 years of Deer Run Mine operation, they will pretty much experience the same daily interactions, with perhaps more intensity. Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Mines and Minerals recently renewed Permit 399 for another 5 years and the Illinois EPA will also be extending the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System water permit. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency lifetime air permit still has no monitoring of particulate matter in the community and still requires only calculations of dust at the mine site.
Permit 424 was just approved, so the 2nd high rise coal slurry impoundment will soon start to be constructed after the water permits are approved.  The public hearings for the 2 water permits will be held June 4, 2014 at Hillsboro High School by the IEPA. The NPDES Permit for the 2nd impoundment will be held at 5:00 P.M. The water quality 401 Certification public hearing for the 2nd impoundment and its impact on our economy will be held at 7:30 P.M.
Coal processing does not have to result in a coal slurry impoundment, but IDNR/OMM as we all know approves whatever Hillsboro Energy LLC (HEL) requests. Lessons learned from the impoundment problems at Shay 1 in Carlinville, Illinois, Monterey 2 in Germantown, Illinois and the many impoundments in West Virginia show that Illinois citizens will pay a high cost in the long term.
The many concerns about coal dust, noise, water contamination, health issues, property values, and traffic delays, will continue and will be enhanced with construction of the 2nd impoundment. There will be no additional monitoring or testing of chemicals in the air or water resources even with the expansion.
All of the discharges from the 9 mine outfalls pass through an unlined water reservoir called Shoal Creek Watershed Structure Five, overflow into Central Park Creek, continued through Hillsboro, and finally empty into Middle Fork Shoal Creek. The discharges from the mine interact with surface waters in the county, but no monitoring of the most harmful components of coal is required. HEL does not acknowledge that harmful metals like arsenic, chromium, lead, selenium, etc or any organic toxic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exist in coal and as a result it is not required to analyze for these toxic substances in surface water samples. At least that is what was submitted by HEL to the IEPA on the application for the NPDES water permit for Deer Run. See 3 pages of the NPDES application submitted by HEL for Permit IL0078727 that denies the presence of harmful metals other than mercury and denies the toxic hydrocarbons in coal.
The development of Deer Run Mine was encouraged by Roger Dennison, the President of HEL, who emphasized economic growth in this area. He still works for Chris Cline/Foresight Energy, but mainly at Shay 1 Mine in Carlinville. The tragedy of Deer Run Mine is the lack of protections from coal contamination in the community; IDNR/OMM and IEPA have failed to require adequate testing and monitoring.
The mine has been here for 5 years, and we still seem to have the same economic issues. Looking back at the financial relationship among Deer Run Mine, Montgomery County and the City of Hillsboro, there are reasons to believe that economic benefit did come, but not to the city or county. The city and county officials tried to enhance and better the community by promoting the mine, but some negotiations were not in the best interests of the citizens. The mineral rights to 120,000 acres in Montgomery County that sold to the Chris Cline Group for 7.2 million were resold later for approximately a quarter of a billion dollars. Hillsboro airport was sold as undeveloped land with devalued buildings not appraised as a licensed, functional airport. During the construction of Deer Run Mine, the bills were paid by the city and later reimbursed by the Chris Cline Group without any compensation to the city. The taxpayer is covering the security and emergency management training costs for Deer Run Mine. Over 20 homes have been torn down and subsidence of land and roads are happening. Coal dust, noise, 2 high rise dam impoundments, and traffic delays will further devalue property values and quality of life.
Politics has played a detrimental role in life and death decisions related to coal mining. Chris Cline/Foresight Energy Group moved into the Illinois coal basin with the same determination it used in West Virginia. According to public records, large sums of money were contributed to campaigns of Illinois officials by this corporate interest prior to and during pending coal permit applications. IDNR/OMM has failed to fulfill its mission to the citizens of Illinois. Read more at these links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/illinois-residents-file-i_b_5026732.html
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140418/NEWS/140419404/0/SEARCH
The mine has been considered as an economic boom to Montgomery County by some, but a health hazard and unacceptable environmental concern to others. It seems that the monetary gain of coal royalty payments would be valued more if HEL were required to confine the fugitive coal dust to the mine site and have air monitors in the community to establish that it is in compliance. If Central Park Creek and Middle Fork Shoal Creek would be monitored for all of the harmful chemicals in coal, the community would surely appreciate the knowledge that its surface waters are not being contaminated.
Will citizens demand the environment they deserve and the support from regulatory agencies they should have?
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)
Notice of Water Discharge Permit (NPDES) & 401 Water Quality Certification
Public Hearings
Hillsboro Energy, LLC
Deer Run Mine Refuse Disposal Area No. 2
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Hillsboro High School
522 East Tremont Street, Hillsboro, Illinois
NPDES Permit Hearing at 5 p.m.
401 Water Quality Certification Hearing at 7:30 p.m.
Please refer to these documents for additional information including how, where and when to file written comments.
Click here for the NPDES information.
Click here for the 401 Certification information.
Permit 399 does not protect citizens and the environment from the impact of coal mining as state and federal mining laws intended. Specifically, Permit 399 does not provide adequate monitoring to show or establish that there is compliance with the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Permit 399 for Deer Run Mine should not be renewed for another 5 years. In fact, Permit 399 should never have been approved.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Mines and Minerals (IDNR/OMM) not only approved an incomplete permit, but also turned over the water and air quality to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). When citizens expressed concerns about the impact of coal on their air, water, and community, IDNR/OMM responded that these issues were not in their purview. IDNR/OMM should be responsible for impacts from the mine as outlined in state and federal mining laws and that is not happening.
By turning over environmental responsibility of Deer Run Mine to IEPA, IDNR/OMM has essentially set up conditions that complicate and often hinder enforcement of mining laws. IDNR/OMM has granted Deer Run certain exemptions, which make the community even more vulnerable. Runoff from railroad loading zones and mine roadways are allowed to drain into the area surrounding the mine without any treatment. The most harmful components of coal are not monitored or analyzed so contamination of surface water like Central Park Creek is a threat. There is no monitoring of fugitive emissions that are unique to coal mining. There are no limitations in noise or time delays in road use due to rail transport. In short, Permit 399 does not reasonably protect citizens from the harmful effects of coal processing and transport in the community.
Deer Run Mine was granted a lifetime air permit with particulate matter limitations but it is not doing any monitoring. With the coal processing plant so close to the hospital and nursing home, the coal dust is potentially very harmful to residents. Many months ago, a petition signed by 364 citizens to have air monitors placed at the hospital and nursing home was presented to Mayor Downs. Hopefully, the citizens’ petition will be honored and air monitors will be established, possibly with Deer Run’s assistance; but, to date this has not happened.
When Roger Dennison (President of Hillsboro Energy, LLC) presented the positive aspects that coal mining will bring to Montgomery County at the Permit 399 hearing, he asked that we give the mine a chance to be a good neighbor. Well, the citizens of Montgomery County have given Deer Run Mine an excellent chance and they are still waiting for the good neighbor response from Deer Run.
In Tuesday’s (Feb. 18, 2014) Journal-News article on page 7B titled, “EPA Files Rules About Coke and Coal Piles,†the importance of dust suppression and enclosure of coal piles was given major emphasis. The damage to health resulting from fugitive coal dust should be a concern to all of us. For the record, a copy of the above news article was submitted into the record at the hearing.
Perhaps the greatest threat to Hillsboro is the permanent existence of high-rise impoundments that can leak and fail over time. The non-impounding coal refuse area as presented in permit 399 was altered through revisions that did not allow for public involvement. The incised waste area was converted to a high-hazard 80-foot dam impoundment made of coarse coal waste. In doing this, IDNR/OMM was representing Hillsboro Energy LLC (HEL), not the interests of citizens in Montgomery County.
From a background perspective, it is important to point out that the location of the slurry waste area in Permit 399 was suggested by the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conversation District to be moved out of the Hillsboro Lake’s watershed. This agency also pointed out that the permit application failed to include all the intermittent streams within the permit and shadow areas and are therefore vulnerable to contamination and mine runoff. Montgomery County SWCD also questioned how the drainage and restoration of the longwall subsidence could be accomplished within one year as proposed.  The very pertinent Montgomery County SWCD letter dated March 24, 2008 to Mr. Scott Fowler was not discovered until November 6, 2012 through a FOIA request to the Montgomery County SWCD. This letter was not available for reviewing or found in the Permit 399 file. A copy of this letter was submitted for the record.
There are techniques that could be used to process coal that would not result in high hazard impoundments, but IDNR/OMM approves what the coal operator wants, not what is best for the community. HEL has applied for a 2nd impoundment that is twice the size as the first and closer to residents in Hillsboro and Schram City. Failure of this impoundment would inundate portions of Hillsboro and Schram City with tragic consequences.
IDNR/OMM intends to approve this high risk coal slurry impoundment even with the location creating a serious potential threat to residents.
Illinois is now experiencing what is called the West Virginia Syndrome–the production of coal with the coal operator shielded from its responsibility to the community. In Illinois, the government officials and regulatory agencies, similar to West Virginia, are beholden to coal. They can see the damage that coal has done to West Virginia citizens, but our officials seem immune to the reality. Chris Cline, owner of Deer Run, has established himself in West Virginia and identifies with Don Blankenship of Massey Energy as a talented coal leader. So far, the policies in Illinois have followed the same favoritism to coal as in West Virginia.
Before we have any more irreversible damage, IDNR/OMM must start enforcing mining laws with the protection of citizens in mind to prevent a repeat of the environmental disasters in Illinois that have already occurred in West Virginia.
Citizens stand at the Abraham Lincoln statue on the public square across from the courthouse to protest the renewal of Permit #399 for the Deer Run Mine located within the city limits of Hillsboro.
Five years ago citizens requested an administrative review of Permit #399, for which they are still waiting. In the meantime, coal has been pouring out of Deer Run Mine and the time has already come for the 5-year permit renewal. Citizens are asking for justice.
Nine citizens gave comments and asked questions at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources public hearing.