Public Has Their Say In Five Hour Hearing









There were 27 speakers, two presenters, six professionals from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and over five hours of public comment Wednesday during an IDNR-hosted public hearing at the VFW hall in Taylor Springs about Hillsboro Energy's proposed Deer Run Mine southeast of Hillsboro.



IDNR Northern District Manager Don Pflederer said the record will remain open to include any written comments, including maps, through March 31. They may be sent to Scott Fowler, Land Reclamation Division Supervisor, IDNR, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271.



After the comment period closes, IDNR will review the permit application, all comments, and comments by other departments who have reviewed the application, and make its decision within 60 days of March 31.



That decision may be to issue a mining permit, deny it, or require modifications to the permit application. Even if IDNR issues the permit, mining cannot proceed until all permits are issued, including those from the Illinois EPA.



At the beginning of the public hearing Wednesday, Fowler described the format as "similar to the informal conference."



"We will answer questions that deal with procedural regulations, but we cannot answer specifics about the permit application," he said, but did allow for an opportunity for those questions to be addressed after the meeting-off the verbatim transcript.









Indeed, IDNR staff members (including Fowler, Pflederer, Dan Barkley, Dean Spindler, Bill O'Leary, and Virgina Yang) were called upon frequently to answer regarding department regulations and procedures, but it was a source of irritation to speakers throughout the night that specific permit questions could not be answered on the record.



"I find it frustrating that public questions cannot be answered during this hearing," Becky Clayborn of the Sierra Club, Chicago, said. She also pointed out that it cost her organization $100 for copies of information requested of IDNR under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act.



Similarly, "Why are you waiting to answer so it won't be on the record," Catherine Edmiston of Abingdon asked. Karyl Dressen of Hillsboro and Joyce Huber of Springfield voiced similar concerns. William Schroeder, Hillsboro, read a letter from the Illinois Attorney General's office that said a refusal on the part of the applicant (Hillsboro Energy) constitutes grounds for denying a permit.



The comment portion of the hearing began with two presentations, one by Mary Arlis Bates, representing Citizens Against Longwall Mining (CALM), and the other by Hillsboro Energy president Roger Dennison.



Bates' presentation cited high cancer incident and mortality rates in Montgomery County, and blamed rain water leaching carcinogens from coal waste piles.



She also presented census figures from counties with substantial coal mining histories, and questioned the economic impact in those places.



"Since Franklin County has an extensive mining history, all the residents there should be driving Ferraris and Lamborghinis," she said.



She also showed subsidence graphics and photos from Macoupin County.



"Why has the coal company used a geological model from the Appalacian basin where geology is completely different?" she asked.



During his presentation, Dennison answered that while the model was developed for the Appalacian basin, it was changed using Illinois basin data for Hillsboro Energy's permit application.



Dennison's presentation lasted for just over an hour. He said it addressed questions raised during the informal conference held on Feb. 20.



Dennison reiterated that his company feels the 500-feet deep coal reserves he intends to extract cannot be mined using the room and pillar method. Although building a longwall mine will cost four times what building a room and pillar mine would ($400 million compared to $100 million), because of the coal depth and geological strata, he estimated 70-80 percent of the coal would have to be left for pillars, compared to 50 percent in a typical room and pillar operation.



Regarding longwall mining, he said his company owns "only 40 to 45 percent of the subsidence rights," and cannot use eminent domain to get rights they don't own.



"If folks don't want to be undermined, don't sell your subsidence rights," he said.



He then pointed to a location in the shadow area of the proposed Deer Run Mine where Hillsboro Energy does not have subsidence rights.



"If I don't get them, I'll have to start mining over here," he said, pointing further west on the map.



Regarding questions raised at the informal conference about the potential of closing Route 185, which according to the permit application would be undermined between Hillsboro and Coffeen, and about the road in Macoupin County that was undermined and has been closed for over six years, Dennison said, "We do not plan or foresee any reason to close any roads."



Later in the meeting when Karyl Dressen questioned whether keeping Route 185 open during undermining were possible, IDNR's Barkley said that two state routes in Southern Illinois were longwalled under and neither was closed.



Responding to a request at the informal conference for an "impervious liner" under the gob pile to prevent rain water from leaching through and carrying possible contaminants off the site, Dennison said the permit application calls for a four-foot clay liner.



"This will be the first mine to have a four-foot fully compacted liner," he said.



Many of the speakers at the informal conference questioned Hillsboro Energy's ability to adequately drain flat farm ground after it has been subsided, and a large part of Dennison's presentation defended the mine's drainage model.



He said he has documented every soil type in the permit and shadow areas by plot, and using a "regional drainage plan," is confident that slopes even as flat as zero to two percent can be drained.



"We will work with landowners on drainage issues," Dennison maintained.



Hillsboro Energy's ability to drain the shadow area was a topic of skepticism the rest of the evening, though.



Dave Schluckebier, Donnellson, said that the land outside the shadow area is higher than inside some of the proposed longwall panels, and questioned why, with most drainage in the shadow area north to south, Hillsboro Energy intends to mine north to south.



He also asked the company to follow Illinois drainage law, not allow water to stand, and maintain pre-existing grades.



Larry Schraut, who farms ground inside the shadow area, said that rolling ground that was longwalled under and reclaimed in Macoupin County "doesn't look that bad," but he remains convinced that it will be impossible to adequately drain the flat ground that he farms, and an attempt to do so will require big ditches through his farmland that do not exist now.



"I think of 'planned subsidence' as 'planned destruction,'" he said.



John T. Scott, Champaign, called longwall mining "disastrous for drainage" and suggested that the only way it could be accomplished is draining water into a basin and then pumping it out.



Paula Shelton, Donnellson, agreed that successfully reclaimed sites are rolling with timber.



"We have flat land," she said, and read a letter from the Illinois Department of Agriculture that asked the coal company to work with local agencies on drainage, such as the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District.



Mark Bertolino, Witt, argued that those who work the ground are the best experts.



"One thing farmers know is drainage," he said, and advised land owners to get their own pre-mining survey of their property. "Document, document, document," he added.



Gerry Spinner, a Hillsboro farmer and owner of an excavating business, spoke in favor of the coal company's drainage plan, pointing out that Hillsboro Energy has sought his advice as someone who has done a lot of drainage work for local land owners.



"I can only drain a farm as good as the neighbor would let me," he said. "But Hillsboro Energy will be able to drain the region, and at a cost most landowners could not afford to do themselves."



There were not only concerns raised about water in the shadow area, but also in the permit area, where the actual mine works would be. Another one of Bill Schroeder's concerns was a possible impound site and how it would relate to water quality. He asked that slurry be removed instead of covered when the permit site is reclaimed.



Rex Chappelear of Hillsboro was also concerned with water running off the permit site. Fowler assured him that water leaving the site must meet IEPA standards.



Jeff Smith, Taylor Springs, recommended the gob pile be "moved away from where it's at in the permit," and asked IDNR to make sure it is contained.



Robert Davis, Irving, was also concerned about water runoff, but not from mining.



"Farm runoff is the largest source of water pollution in North America," he countered.



Two speakers, Mark Bertolino and Scott Schluckebier of Donnellson, questioned why Hillsboro Energy would not provide information about where the subsidence rights they own are located.



Schluckebier also asked if an archeological survey had been done and was told by IDNR that it had, but the information was "protected." He asked IDNR to take note of the crowd when deciding whether or not to issue a mining permit. Lee Schraut, Hillsboro, also asked IDNR "to take seriously the review of this permit," and reminded the state agency that he was "not against mining, just the longwall method."



Two speakers, though, did voice an opposition to mining in general. Joyce Blumenshine, an Illinois Sierra Club volunteer from Peoria, referenced global climate change.



"We can do better than coal," she said regarding energy alternatives. "This county is best leaving the coal in the ground."



Joyce Huber said her mother lives on a Montgomery County farm that has been in her family for 137 years. She was concerned about those who try to skirt state regulations.



"People will get around the rules and when the damage occurs, it's too late," she said. "I'm not in favor of any mining in Montgomery County."



Paula Shelton pointed out that crop yield information in the permit application was taken from 1978, and should be from a 2000 survey. IDNR soil scientist Dean Spindler agreed.



"Yes, we will require them to use the most current information," he answered.



Catherine Edmiston talked about her difficulty in dealing with IEPA and IDNR and suggested books about land owners who had stood up to coal companies. She also objected to the possibility of longwall mining occurring beneath cemeteries.



"I think that is one of the hardest things for me to accept about longwall mining," she said.



Other speakers were Herbert Wodtke of Loogootee, who was concerned about the gob pile; Don King of Irving, who pointed out that advertisements during the referendum promised to return land to pre-mined condition; Janet Friesner of Fayette County, who objected to the way coal rights were sold and questioned whether locally mined coal will stay in the U.S.; Mary Ellen DeClue of Litchfield, who questioned whether public reaction to the mine would be different if it were a pig farm; and Barbara Scott, Champaign, who spoke glowingly of rural family values and suggested exploring alternative energy sources.



Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said his organization supports the application and pointed out that while emissions from coal-fired power plants are down, "clean coal technology must continue to be developed and brought on-line."



"Illinois alone has enough coal to meet this country's energy demand for 100 years," Gonet said.



Brian Niemann, president of the Montgomery County Farm Bureau, reiterated that his organization is not "nor never has been opposed to economic growth here in Montgomery County."



"If I can sum up this controversy in one word, it's 'accountability,'" Niemann said. "If these things that are proposed can be accomplished, then no harm has been done. If not . . . well, you can't turn back the clock."