Ask Illinois to Hold Dirty Coal Mines Accountable

On Nov. 16, 2012, the Illinois Pollution Control Board ruled in favor of ELPC and our clients in a case against the Industry Mine near Macomb, Ill. The Board concurred with ELPC’s analysis of data spanning eight years that found that the mine’s owner – first Freeman United and now Springfield Coal – had violated its water pollution permit 624 times between 2004 and 2011. The violations occurred at 16 outflows, which eventually reach the La Moine and Illinois rivers, and included pollutants such as sulfates, iron, manganese, pH and total suspended and settled solids.

Now the Board must decide on an appropriate fine for the mining company. Per state law, the maximum allowable penalty is $64 million. However, the Board has rarely imposed fines greater than $100,000. A large gulf is in-between. We need your help to convince the Board that there is a strong case for imposing a large fine based on:

• Extreme number of violations
• Violations spanning a number of years, demonstrating an unwillingness to fix recurring problems
• Plans to open two new strip mines by the same operator in the same west-central region of Illinois

Our clean water standards were designed to protect the public. But we can’t enforce those standards effectively unless we send the right economic signals to chronic polluters. Please use the form below to encourage the Illinois Pollution Control Board to issue a significant fine to the Industry Mine operators.