Members of the Vermilion County Board have approved a resolution requesting the Army Corp of Engineers hold a public meeting on the riverbank stabilization work planned along the Middle Fork River. It was announced in September that the Corp of Engineers had decided it wants additional review before it will allow Vistra to proceed with the bank stabilization project.
The work that is being proposed is along the National Scenic Middle Fork River north of Kickapoo State Park. It involves efforts to stabilize the riverbank in the area where some coal ash pits are located adjacent to the river. Advocates for protecting the Middle Fork – including Eco Justice Collaborative and Prairie Rivers Network – had raised alarms about the bank stabilization plans.
In June of 2012, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a Notice of Violation to then-owner Dynegy Midwest Generation alleging that their coal ash disposal areas were leaking into groundwater in the area near the company’s abandoned power plant north of Kickapoo. In June of this year, Vistra, the new owner of the site was issued a second Notice of Violation for alleged pollution of the river.
[Story posted November 13, 2018.]
