An Environmental group, Prairie Rivers Network, has issued a 60-day notice that it intends to file suit to protect the National Scenic Middle Fork River in Vermilion County. Andrew Rehn, a water resource engineer with Prairie Rivers Network, explains why the action is being considered….
Vermilion County Board Chairman Mike Marron was one of those who talked about the problem during a news conference at Kickapoo State Park today (Wednesday). He noted the National Scenic River attracts citizens not only from Illinois but other states as well….
About 17 miles of the Middle Fork were designated as Illinois’ only Scenic River under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1989. The coal ash pits were left behind after the Vermilion Power Plant was closed in 2011.
Prairie Rivers Network and the Vermilion County Board have said the issue of toxic chemicals leaking from the coal ash pits must be resolved. The coal ash pits at the Vermilion Power Plant are ‘’legacy’’ ash pits, excluded from the protections of the EPA’s federal coal ash rule because the power plant was closed before the rule went into effect in 2015. Environmental groups have argued in a lawsuit pending before the federal appeals court in Washington that the EPA should not have left legacy pits out of the rule.
[In the photo County Board Chairman Mike Marron addresses those gathered at the news conference. On his right is Andrew Rehn, a water resource engineer with Prairie Rivers Network. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.]
