Although 2016 was a quiet year regarding a proposed coal mine in southwestern Vermilion County…this year may be different. Jonathan Ashbrook, a leader of the citizens group ‘Stand Up to Coal’, says his group expects the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will rule early this year on the Sunrise Coal Company’s request for a mining permit.
If the permit is approved, opponents would have 30 days to request an administrative review to fight it. If that occurs, Ashbrook says more information will be provided about the process. He says plans for the proposed coal mine are ‘’still very much alive’’, adding: ‘’and we are still very much in the fight to stop it.’’
Ed Cross, Director of Communications for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, says Sunrise Coal has submitted responses to 62 questions raised about their original application. Cross says those answers are now under review. The company had been given until late March of this year to answer those concerns.
During earlier public hearings on the proposed Bulldog Mine some citizens argued it would destroy some of the best farmland in Illinois, and could endanger the water supply for people living in that area. Sunrise Coal earlier purchased 400 acres of land for its surface facilities and leased over 19-thousand acres for the proposed mine near Allerton. The Terre Haute based company had originally hoped to begin operating the mine three years ago.
In 2015 the coal company claimed the mine would create 300 permanent jobs with an average salary of $76-thousand dollars, plus health care and fringe benefits. The company said the annual payroll would amount to $23-million dollars. And a study by Northern Illinois University said there would be indirect employment in food service, wholesale trade, architectural, engineering, health care, real estate and other areas.
