URGENT : Legislative Alert – Please Phone Your State Legislators ASAP to Support Our Parks !

Rock Island Trail Spoon River Bridge Hikers

Please make calls  to your state Representative and Senator in Springfield AS SOON AS POSSILBE and ask them to support Senate Bill 1566, which will establish essential fees to fund the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

This funding is critical to keep our parks open and maintain our state agency entrusted to protect our state treasures of woods, fish and wildlife areas, and parks.

Senate Bill 1566 has important provisions that reasonably raise fees on coal, gravel, gas and other mineral extraction, that have not been raised in some cases in several decades. A $2. increase on license plates will be added, instead of a park entrance fee.

The Illinois House of Representatives will be in session on Saturday, May 26th. Check for your local Representative’s Springfield office phone   at: http://www.ilga.gov/

Ask that they Vote Yes on Senate Bill 1566, which will establish basic fees to help fund the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and keep our parks open.

These fees are small increases in for the public and businesses and are essential for keeping IDNR functioning. Illinois must provide more funding to help  our parks and wildlife areas. In these tough economic times for our state, it is reasonable to ask just a little bit more to keep our parks open. IDNR funding support from the state budget has dropped by over 55% in the last ten years, while costs for  supplies, maintenance, etc. have continued to increase. IDNR staffing is less than half of what it was ten years ago, yet the demand for licenses, permits, park use, and other agency work has not decreased.

Check the Illinois Chapter Sierra club webpage for our Chapter Director Jack Darin’s article : http://sierraclubillinois.wordpress.com/

Senate Bill 1566 gives IDNR the ability to create $32 million in new fees, and with a nearly unprecedented protection in the bill language from sweeps or diversions. There is also a commitment from the Governor’s Office that they will not sweep these new revenues. The legislation will help pay for state parks with a $2 surcharge on license plates – a more effective and cheaper way to support parks than daily and annual passes – and charge a number of fees for the environmental permits, consultations, and grants, and also for trail, beach and equestrian trail users, and museum visitors. It increases registration on motorized watercraft and creates the Illinois Fisheries Management Fund, where 20% of revenues from vehicle titling fees (certificate of title, duplicates, and corrected titles) will be dedicated to this fund. Canoes and kayak registrations will also be replaced with an annual “paddle pass.” The bill has at least 40 supporting organizations. Please contact your legislator and ask them to support IDNR and SB1566.

Text of the changes regarding fees for IDNR in Senate Bill 1566 can be found at: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700SB1566ham002&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=57454&DocNum=1566&GAID=11&Session=

For more information contact Joyce Blumenshine at 309-688-0950.

Two Critical Hearings Begin Wednesday, May 23rd : Can You Help Attend One of These?

Two critical mine hearings begin Wednesday, May 23rd. Your presence at either or both of these hearings would be greatly appreciated.

1) the contested mine permit hearing for the North Canton coal strip mine in the watershed of Canton Lake public water supply, begins at 9:00 a.m. at the IDNR headquarters building, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, in the northwest corner of the state fair grounds.

This hearing continues on Thursday, May 24th at 9 a.m. Both days are expected to run until 5 p.m. Members of Heart of IL Group Sierra Club and the Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues will be testifying regarding concerns about this strip mine. Illinois Sierra Club Clean Water Advocate Dr. Cindy Skrukrud will be presenting expert comments from her streams assessment on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. This hearing will continue the week of June 25th, with other witnesses.

At issue is the impact strip mining of over 700 acres will have on the water quality and quantity of Canton Lake. Over half of the residents of Fulton County are supplied drinking water from Canton Lake. The Mayor of Canton spoke at the IL EPA public hearing, December, 2011, stating that the lake is the primary source for Canton water and will continue to be so. A piped waterline will at some point bring water from near the Illinois River, however, that system is not intended to be the primary water supply as electric pumps will have to be used to pump uphill about nine miles to reach Canton.  The entire mine permit area is 1,084.5 acres, with mature forests and significant stream tributaries feeding the West Branch Copperas Creek, which is the main stream feeding Canton Lake.

The coal mine is stated to operate for about ten years and will  have six or seven sedmentation ponds, that will hold back millions of gallons of water that would be feeding the West Branch Copperas Creek and Canton Lake. The mine is also proposing to divert additional surface water to the Middle Branch Copperas Creek. No studies have been done of how this water diversion will affect Canton Lake. Currently the lake has dropped noticeably in water level due to the dry winter and spring.

Concerns also include the impacts on quality farmland and local air quality. Local residents are concerned about mine blasting and the large number of coal trucks that would be hauling from the site. It is anticipated that coal from this mine would be taken to the Industry Mine, McDonough County, for washing and processing. The Industry Mine has over 600 clean water act violations since 2004. The same company, Springfield Coal, owns the Industry Mine and appears to be the company behind Capital Resources Development Company / North Canton LLC, that wants to mine north of Canton Lake. For more information contact Joyce Blumenshine, Heart of IL Group, 309-688-0950.

2) the IEPA Public Availability Session regarding the sand mine quarry proposed next to the east side of Starved Rock State Park, begins on Wednesday, May 23rd, at Illinois Valley Community College in Room C316, at 815 N Orlando Smith Road, Oglesby, IL. This session runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and will be an open house type arrangement, where citizens can see mine plans and talk with representatives from IEPA, IDNR, and other agencies to ask questions about the mine.

Comments to IEPA can be made online through Sierra Club at: http://bit.ly/SaveStarvedRock      or  written comments can be mailed directly to: Brad Frost, Community Relations, Illinois EPA, 1021 N Grand Ave. E., P.O. Box 19506, Springfield IL 62794 or brad.frost@illinois.gov.

If you cannot attend this session, please be sure to click the link to send a written comment to IEPA. This mine is for sand to be used in hydraulic fracturing or fracing for natural gas. A wetland area and existing nature preserve will likely be destroyed if this mine proceeds. Citizens are particularly concerned about the mine’s impacts to air quality in LaSalle County, which will be regulated under IEPA’s air pollution control permit. “The blasting and processing of sandstone creates silica dust, which has been classified as a human lung carcinogen, causing silicosis. The dust will be hazardous to mine workers, homeowners and park visitors. We want IEPA to evaluate these impacts before a permit is issued,” said Farley Andrews of Ottawa.

Three counties in Wisconsin and five counties in Minnesota have adopted moratoriums on new or expanding frac sand mining operations in order to evaluate environmental and public health impacts of this quickly growing industry and make regulation adjustments accordingly. Illinois should learn the lessons from these states. Unfortunately, however, the LaSalle County Board has prioritized silica sand mining over the health of residents. “During construction, run-off from the mine will likely contain elevated levels of sediment, altered pH, and decreased dissolved oxygen, all of which can negatively impact stream health and aquatic life. An individual permit would better protect the tributary that flows from the mine site through Starved Rock State Park before entering the Illinois River,” said Elliot Brinkman of Prairie Rivers Network, an environmental group focused on protecting Illinois’ rivers for people, fish and wildlife.
The application Mississippi Sand submitted to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is only for the first phase of the mining plan that was shown to LaSalle County Board. Their final plan involves mining Ernat’s Marsh, an irreplaceable salt-water marsh that has been categorized by the state as a “high quality natural community” and destroying a tributary on site.

Segmenting the project by separating it into independent phases has allowed Mississippi Sand to avoid a federal 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the first phase of the project which would also trigger further investigation of the site from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. A 404 permit is required for projects that will impact waters of the U.S. or jurisdictional wetlands. For more information contact: Tess Wendel,  Sierra Club-Illinois Chapter, 70 E Lake St,  312-251-1680 ex 120

A First ! HOI Sierra Club Dinner Night Out : Dutch Treat Food, Conversation, Fun Friday, May 4, 6:30 p.m.

Meet your Heart of IL Sierra Club Group members at an informal dinner out, Dutch Treat, on Friday, May 4th.
Great food, fun conversation!

We will also ‘pass the hat’ for your pocket change to help the HOI treasury, if you so desire.  You may have noticed there was no ‘ pitch ‘ to ask for your help in staffing food service at the Peoria baseball stadium, which has been a main fund-raiser for our group for several years. We need a couple new fundraisers to help replace these funds.

Please give a Dinner Night Out a try !

Meet at the Fox Pub, 7800 N. Sommer Street (off of Pioneer Park). #302 is the Fox Pub in northern Peoria.

They have a delightful menu. More about the restaurant is here:
http://thefoxpubandcafe.com/index.php?p=1_3_Contact

For more information phone Joyce at 688-0950

Fresh Air and Exercise for a Purpose : Highway Clean-Up Saturday 9:00 a.m.

Join volunteers for the spring highway clean-up morning, beginning at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, April 28th !
Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup

When:   Sat, April 28, 9am – 11am

Where:   Illinois Rt. 40 north of Peoria and Singing Woods Road (meet at the farm grain bins just east of the corner)

Description:  Meet at the Fry Farm  at Rt. 40 and Singing Woods Road. Gloves and hard-soled shoes are recommended. Sorry, no helpers under 10 years due to safety concerns. For more information, call John Wosik at 222-2519.
Bags and vests are provided.

This is the Heart of IL Sierra designated Rt. 40 highway section spring clean up. We will also have one in the fall. 

HOI at the Clean Water Celebration : Can you help with summer projects ?

A picture is said to be worth a 1,000 words. Consider the thousand or more students at the Sun Foundation Clean Water Celebration, Monday, April 23, at the Peoria Civic Center.

You can be proud of your Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club for the great display and educational work for the Sun Foundation Clean Water Day. Special thanks goes to John Wosik and Wendy Marquis for their extra efforts in preparing the display and in staffing the HOI exhibit. Wendy and John went to Pekin to borrow a groundwater display from the Tazewell County Health Department. They dramatically demostrated how toxic chemicals can leach underground into our water resources. John compiled a professional looking panel exhibit and also set-up a continuous laptop display of parts of our public performance rights “Gasland” movie. Rudy Habben’s financial donation made the booth possible. Would you help with future HOI events? The fun is free and the rewards of volunteering are great. We also need financial donations no matter how small or large for these efforts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Kids streamed to the display. They learned about fracking for natural gas and how it can harm our precious groundwater.

Hurray! Well done!

You can get involved in such fun and worthwhile events. Please contact our HOI email    hoi@illinois.sierraclub.org    to let us know if you could help with tabling, water monitoring, or other projects this summer.

Sun Foundation has held Clean Water Day annually to educate students about the importance of protecting water resources, and provides this essential environmental education opportunity for area groups. Your help and / or financial support will enable HOI  to continue with such important public outreach. Fracking is expected to begin in Saline and Perry counties in southern Illinois this summer.