Eagles and more at the Starved Rock State Park ! Join the Hike Jan. 28th

Heart of IL Group Outings Leader Wendy Marquis has a wonderful outing planned !

Please phone Wendy to RSVP at her number below.

Join in with other HOI friends for a healthy and relaxing hike and car-pool to the beautiful Starved Rock State Park. This weekend is Eagle Days at the park, and special displays and events will be at the lodge.

When:  Saturday, Jan 28, 2012

Where:  Starved Rock State Park (map)

Description:  Everyone is invited to participate in a winter hike at Starved Rock State Park on Saturday, January 28.

Meet at:   the Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights at 9 a.m. for the trip to Starved Rock, or meet in the Great Hall of the Starved Rock Lodge at 10:30 a.m. On the way up we will briefly stop to view the site of the proposed sand mine adjacent to the park, which the Sierra Club opposes.

The approximate 4-hour slow paced outing will explore some of the picturesque areas of the park that should also include bald eagle sightings and other photo opportunities. Dress for the weather, including waterproof footwear and an optional snack to eat on the trail. An optional dinner is planned after the hike, either at the lodge, or elsewhere. For more information, contact Wendy Marquis at 309-645-6263.

Don't Miss Seeing: THE REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR

REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR
January 26, 7:00 PM @ NORMAL THEATER

located at 209 North Street, in the historic downtown Normal, just east of the ISU campus.

driving directions are at  http://normaltheater.com/index.aspx?nid=85

Where better to see REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR, than in the city of Normal, which is planning electric car plug-ins and going green !

This documentary film was released in 2011 and is a follow-up to the 2006 film, ” Who Killed The Electric Car. “  Amazing footage of key company directors takes you into the decision making at board rooms and to the production floor for the gorgeous Tesla.  The exciting world of electric cars roars through this film! The possibilities of a gasoline free vehicle future seem very close indeed!

90min/PG-13/

Special after-screening event On Jan. 26th ONLY!  Illinois Chapter Sierra staff and Prairie Group Sierra Club hopes to table at this event Jan. 26th.  Please attend and give them your support!

This film will also be shown Jan. 27th.

Saturday, January 21, 2012
9:15-11:00 AM
at the North Branch, Peoria Public Library, McKenzie Room, 3001 W. Grand Parkway, Peoria, IL 61615
(Behind Menards off Allen Road)

The public is welcome to attend and the meeting is free.

In many central Illinois communities, including the city of Peoria, the March 20 primary ballot will ask for voter approval to allow a governmental body to bid out residential electrical service to an alternative supplier. But any resident can opt-out — that is, choose not to participate.

Peoria has an agreement with the consultant, Good Energy, to educate the public about the referendum. Learn about this referendum at the meeting.  Speakers at the meeting will be  Tracy Fox of Global Warming Solutions (and HOI Sierra member)  and Chris Setti of the city of Peoria. 

This is your opportunity to ask how you can get honestly green and Illinois green power for your electricity provider!  Now that is exciting !

pure Illinos wind power / photo by Joe Dick

From Prairie Rivers Network Website: www.prairierivers.org

If you have time for just one call, the board chair is Jerry Hicks, 815-795-2608.

A proposed sand mine adjacent to Starved Rock State Park could drain a rare, brackish wetland, with high quality plant communities and specific habitat for threatened and endangered species. The noise generated from blasting and constant truck traffic will have a negative impact on the wildlife populations that inhabit the area.

Starved Rock State Park receives over 2 million visitors annually; many of whom come to view the abundant wildlife that occur in the area, such as the bald eagles that overwinter there and the white pelicans that migrate to the Illinois Valley in spring and fall.

It’s not too late to let members of the LaSalle County Board know that you oppose locating this mine near Starved Rock. Please take the time to call board members and voice your concern.

In December, the LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously in favor of the Permit. However, the proposal will go before the full LaSalle County Board on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 for a final vote.

Please contact the County Board Members or attend the County Board Meeting in support of Starved Rock State Park.

When: Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 1 PM

Where: Knights of Columbus Hall at 401 W. Main Street in Ottawa, Illinois

More information is available in earlier blogs, at the Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues website:  www.savecantonlake.com; www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2011/capital-resources-develpmnet/index.pdf; www.epa.state.il.us/public-notices/2011/north-canton-mine/index.pdf.

You can also call Gov. Quinn’s office and ask that these permits not be issued.  217-782-0244.

You can also submit written comments before 12/26/11 to Hearing Officer Dean Struder, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 1021 North Grand Ave. E., PO Box 19276, Springfield, IL  62794-9276.  You must specify Capital Resources Development Company NPDES in the correspondence.

We can direct you to others if you want more information.

at the Occasions Banquet Facility, 301 West Main Street, Havana, Illinois

Regarding the Dynegy Coal-fired Power Plant High Hazard Coal Ash Dumps in Havana
which discharge into the Illinois River.

Ask Illinois EPA and Dynegy’s Havana Power Plant for responsible coal ash disposal and closure of the high hazard ash ponds.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has tentatively decided to reissue a permit to Dynegy’s Havana Power Plant that would allow additional mercury and other harmful pollution found in coal ash to be discharged into the Illinois River. Dynegy wants to continue dumping its coal ash in a 96-acre wet impoundment that is upland of the town of Havana, instead of converting to a safer dry landfill as other Illinois power plants have done.

The Havana coal ash pond is larger than the ash impoundment that failed in 2008 at the TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant sending over 1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry into the Clinch and Emory Rivers.

If you are concerned about water pollution, healthy fish, and threats to public health and safety, please attend this  Public Hearing.

Tell Illinois EPA and Dynegy:

•Thank you for new air pollution control equipment ‐ we don’t want to breathe dirty air!
•Now, take that pollution and dispose of it responsibly. No coal ash toxins in our river!
•We use and enjoy the river where water from the coal ash ponds is being dumped. We eat the fish, we draw our income from the river, we recreate on the river. Keep our Illinois River clean!
•Invest your earnings in pollution control. Build a safe, lined landfill.
•We live downhill from the ash pond storing nearly 1 billion gallons of hazardous coal ash.
•We are threatened by the coal ash pond ‐ inspect it, fix it, then close it down!

If you cannot attend the hearing, please email your comments urging the closure of the Havana ash pond to IEPA Hearing Officer Dean Studer at  Dean.Studer@illinois.gov

 and specify Havana Power Station NPDES in subject line by midnight, December 8, 2011.

Comments postmarked by December 8th, 2011 may be sent to:

Hearing Officer Dean Studer
Re: Havana Power Station NPDES
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
1021 North Grand Avenue East
P. O. Box 19276
Springfield, IL 62794-9276

For the full NPDES draft permit, check the IL EPA website:   http://www.epa.state.il.us/events/

For carpooling from Peoria, please phone 688-0950.

The Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues, Canton Lake and its Watershed ( CACEI ) has organized a special panel of speakers to discuss concerns about the coal mine. The group is a grassroots not-for-profit organization of residents from the city of Canton as well as from Canton and Orion Townships and other locations, who are dedicated to protecting Canton Lake. Canton Lake is  fed by streams that will be destroyed or impacted by the proposed strip mine.

BACKGROUND: North Canton LLC, previously Capital Resource Development Company, LLC’s proposed North Canton Mine will be located just over a mile north of Canton Lake. The mine will destroy over a thousand acres of woods and farmland. This strip mine threatens the local community’s health, clean land and water, and quality of life. The mine needs two water permits from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in order to operate. The panel presentation will provide information for local residents on what has been proposed and how to participate in the permitting process. Staff from Prairie Rivers Network, Champaign, and volunteers from Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Club, will participate on the panel.

PUBLIC HEARINGS ARE SCHEDULED:  The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency hearings regarding the NPDES and 401 permits for this coal mine are scheduled for December 6th at 5 p.m. in Canton at the Donaldson Center, 250 South Ave. D in Canton. 

For more information phone 688-0950.

WHEN: Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 at 6:30 pm

WHERE: Donaldson Center, 250 S. Avenue D, Canton, IL

The meeting will be held in Room 403 of the Peoria County Building, located at the corner of Main and Jefferson Streets, downtown Peoria.  For more information phone 688-0950.

Mark Thursday, November 10th, 6:00 p.m. on your calendar, which will be the full Peoria County Board vote on the landfill expansion issues.

Green Where You Are

Two lectures by special guest Laura L. Barnes, M.S.L.I.S.

Hosted by the Chillicothe Public Library
430 N.  Bradley Ave., Chillicothe, IL  61523

http://www.chillicothepubliclibrary.org

For more information or to RSVP, call Catherine at 309-274-2719.

Free pack of CFL light bulbs to the first 25 who RSVP!   

On September 29, 2011

12:00pm “Getting Started with Greening Your Business”    brown bag talk*

Learn how to make your organization more environmentally friendly and discuss strategies for overcoming barriers to going green.

* Feel free to bring your own lunch, or for $6 the library will provide a lunch for you.  RSVP by September 26. Call 274-2719.

6:00pm “Getting Started with Greening Your Home”

Become an environmentally smart consumer, learn how to reduce your energy and water bills, and discover new resources for living a greener lifestyle.

About the speaker:

Laura L. Barnes has been the Librarian/Clearinghouse Specialist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center since 1995. She’s embedded with ISTC’s technical assistance program and, in addition to her standard librarian responsibilities, also teaches businesses and organizations about going green. She also maintains an environmental news blog and serves as an information consultant to the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange, a national network of pollution prevention/sustainability professionals.