Missing Illinois’ Lost Wetlands

The massive storm system that has waterlogged Illinois reminds us how much we miss a piece of Illinois’ natural heritage that has been largely destroyed – our wetlands. 

Wetlands are nature’s sponges, and the ones that are left offer tremendous flood protection.  According to EPA, one acre of a typical wetland can store a million gallons of water, or three-acre feet:

A one-acre wetland can typically store about three-acre feet of water, or one million gallons. An acre-foot is one acre of land, about three-quarters the size of a football field, covered one foot deep in water. Three acre-feet describes the same area of land covered by three feet of water. Trees and other wetland vegetation help slow the speed of flood waters. This action, combined with water storage, can actually lower flood heights and reduce the water’s destructive potential.

Illinois has lost more of its wetlands than most states.  According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources:

When compared with other states, the scope of wetland loss in Illinois becomes more clear. Illinois ranks sixth in overall percentage of wetland loss, behind California, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio. In terms of acres of wetland loss, Illinois ranks fifth. Only Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Arizona have lost more acres. Because of the large percentage and acreage of wetlands that have been lost, Illinois is in the top 10 percent of states with the greatest overall wetland loss over the past 200 years.

Wetlands are also very good at filtering pollution out of our water supply, and provide critical wildlife habitat for most species.   But today we’re especially missing their flood protection superpowers aren’t we?

We’ve lost about 8.5 million acres of our original wetlands.  If we still had them today, they’d be keeping 8.5 trillion gallons of water out of basements, streets, businesses, and buildings.

 

 

 

Another Exciting Step For the Chicago River

Today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Transportation is considering financing for the Chicago Riverwalk is the next exciting step in the recovery of the Chicago River.

For over a century, Chicagoans looked at this river as a way to get our sewage out of town, but those days are fading fast. The people of Chicago are flocking to the river for relaxation and enjoyment, and our leaders are working together to remake the Chicago River into a clean, healthy waterway that supports aquatic life and recreation, and attracts economic activity and visitors to its banks. We applaud Mayor Emanuel for his vision for the Chicago River as a second shoreline for our city, and his leadership in making the investments that will create good jobs giving us a healthier environment, and a more vibrant, attractive city for the future. We also thank Senator Durbin for his work on behalf of this project and the Chicago River, and the local, state, and federal agencies working to upgrade pollution controls and improve water quality in the river.

Thanks to the work of our leaders, and the support from Chicagoans across our city, we are transforming the Chicago River system into a priceless new asset for our city and our neighborhoods. Sierra Club members in Chicago are excited to see the progress we’ve made together so far, and look forward to working with the City in developing a Chicago Riverwalk that connects all of us to this waterway at the heart of our great city.

Protecting Illinois From Fracking

The prospect of the gas industry coming Illinois to extract gas from beneath our state using high-volume hydraulic fracturing has caused a great deal of controversy and concern, especially in parts of Illinois where leasing for drilling rights has been underway for well over a year. Horror stories from other states about open pits of toxic wastewater, secret brews of toxins injected into the earth, air emissions sickening neighbors, and contaminated drinking water are just a few of the impacts seen elsewhere.

Can we stop the industry from bringing fracking to Illinois? When legislators proposed a two-year moratorium on the practice last year, we strongly supported that proposal, and we support continued calls for a moratorium today. However, we also need to acknowledge that fracking is legal today in Illinois, and for all we know, may already be occurring as you read this. We also need to recognize that our current laws regulating oil and gas drilling, originally passed in 1941, are totally inadequate to deal with the range of issues raised by injecting millions of gallons of chemical-laced fluid deep into the earth only to come surging back with gas and potentially oil. In short, Illinois citizens and our environment, at the moment, are virtually defenseless against against the problems experienced in other states.

That’s why it is essential that Illinois move quickly to get the strongest possible safeguards in place to protect citizens and their water supplies. Fortunately, discussions in Springfield have produced a basic agreement on what would be the strongest set of protections of any state in the country. The open pits for wastewater in use in other states will be banned here, and there will be none of the dumping the water into wastewater treatment plants, which has overwhelmed sewage plants elsewhere. The discharge of any fracking wastewater into surface water will be a felony offense. The industry must disclose what chemicals are used, and the most toxic ones will be banned. Ann Alexander from the Natural Resources Defense Council, who helped represent environmental groups in the negotiations that produced the proposal, has a good rundown on the major provisions of the bill here.

Open pits for wastewater will be banned in Illinois

We certainly applaud the leaders who recognized the urgency of getting these safeguards in place. Representatives John Bradley (D-Marion) and David Reis (R-Olney) led the talks, and Ann Williams (D-Chicago), Naomi Jakobsson (D-Urbana), and House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn-Currie (D-Chicago) particularly focused on the environmental safeguards. Governor Quinn’s Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which has been advocating for strong legislation for over a year, will be faced with regulating the industry and played a critical role. Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s team fought for the strongest possible regulations at every step of the way.

The bill is certainly not perfect, and its ultimate effectiveness in protecting public health and the environment will be in how it is enforced. This will be a major test for the Department of Natural Resources, which will need significant new resources to do the job. That will be a key issue in the next phase of discussions, which will focus on taxes and fees the industry must pay. If the safeguards in HB2615 are going to work, they must be accompanied by adequate fees, paid by industry, to cover the state’s substantial costs.

We certainly share the concerns of those who live in areas where tracking is likely to occur – they have reason to be concerned. Hopefully, once House Bill 2615 is signed into law, they will be much safer than they are today, and much better protected than citizens in other states facing the same concerns. We may not be able to decide whether fracking comes to Illinois, but we absolutely must decide to make sure we are as protected as we can be.

Fight the good fight for Starved Rock

On December 12, the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter, Prairie Rivers Network, and Openlands filed suit against the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, calling for judicial review of the recently approved silica sand mine located at the east entrance of Starved Rock State Park. To learn more about the complaint, you can view our press release.

For the past year, the IL Chapter has fought tirelessly for Starved Rock. We have kept the issue in the spotlight as months passed, pursuing every opportunity to highlight the environmental and health concerns with respect to this mine. Our efforts are now taking form in this suit, but we still could use your help! Write Governor Quinn today!

 

Don’t Frack With Illinois!

That’s the message a growing coalition of organizations and concerned citizens is sending to industry and decision-makers regarding the proposal to open Illinois to high-volume hydraulic fracturing–or fracking.

Gas leasing speculation has been quite a spectacle in Illinois, especially in the southeastern counties where shale gas development is thought to be the most promising. We learned early on that the state has virtually no regulations in place to protect the public and the environment from the hazards of fracking. Seeing all to0 clearly the myriad of damages to people, communities and the environment that shale gas development has caused in other states a coalition of environmental organizations came together to address the issue head on.

For nearly a year, Sierra Club and other organizations have established a list of measures that are necessary for the protection of people and places in Illinois. They include:

• Chemical disclosure–before fracking–of exactly what chemicals are being used in the frack.
• Baseline groundwater testing before the frack and following monitoring afterwards.
• Water withdrawal plans.
• An adequate public notice and appeal process for frack well permits.
• Adequate setbacks from water supplies, including water wells, streams, ponds and lakes.
• Prohibition on the use of toxic chemicals such as BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene).
• Prohibition of storing wastewater in open pits.
• Treating  fracking waste as hazardous waste.
• Ending clean air act exemptions for fracking sites.

Until industry is willing to accept reasonable regulations that protect the environment and the people who depend upon it for their lives and livelihoods, no permits should be issued for high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Therefore, we continue to support a moratorium on fracking until Illinois has developed robust and comprehensive regulations that protect people and places from an activity that has been so harmful in other parts of the country.

Please ask your state legislators for his or her support by co-sponsoring Senate Bill 3280 with a moratorium on fracking until robust regulations have been developed.

And, please support this important campaign by taking part in the Don’t Frack With Illinois event—a virtual fundraising event sponsored by the Shawnee Group Sierra Club. Win a handcrafted acoustic guitar generously donated by Whipple Creek Guitars in Pomona, Illinois. Visit the event website to buy tickets and your chance to WIN!!

High-volume Hydraulic Fracturing Background Information

Industry is proposing to use high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to reach oil and/or natural gas in the New Albany Shale. After drilling into the shale, which is located between 4,000 to 5,000 feet down, the well bore is then drilled horizontally for one to two miles. Following the drilling the well is then “completed” or “fracked.” Fracking is process in which water, sand and toxic chemicals (fracking fluid) are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Each well uses between 2 to 8 million gallons of fresh water taken from our lakes and aquifers. Since one well is often fracked up to 18 times and there could be one well for every forty acres of land within the New Albany Shale, this amounts to an enormous quantity of fresh water permanently taken out of the system.

Additionally, an estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid. Industry is proposing to store this toxic brew in open evaporation pits until it can be hauled away in tanker trucks to deep injection wells. Spills and leaks throughout this process are inevitable, putting wells, farm ponds, streams, lakes, and aquifers and the people, pets, livestock and wildlife that use them at great risk.

In many areas, after a well has been fracked, people’s well water has become contaminated by chemicals (some even radioactive) that migrate into aquifers through natural fissures and/or possibly through abandoned wells.

Air pollution is also a big problem. Volatile organic compounds from wastewater flowback pits and airborne chemical releases from the equipment involved in the fracking process all add up to a high level of air pollution in many areas.

Water Issues Targeted at this Year’s Illinois Hunting and Fishing Day Celebrations

This year’s National Hunting and Fishing Day Celebrations in northern and southern Illinois were a great opportunity for Illinois Chapter Sierra Club staff and volunteers to engage the public on many water-centric issues in Illinois. Armed with buttons, stickers, flyers, and fact sheets our volunteers and staff cast their lines and reeled in a sizable audience to discuss the difficulties of keeping our Illinois waters happy and healthy.

At the Northern Illinois show, Sierra Club staff largely focused on the increasingly pressing issue of the Asian carp, which are slowly-yet-surely advancing up the Illinois River towards Lake Michigan. We were particularly delighted to meet so many young fisherwomen and men who were very knowledgeable about the problem. Attendees were interested to hear about the Sierra Club’s support of permanent separation between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins via our Healthy Water Solutions (HWS) coalition, and were very concerned about the inevitable consequences if the Asian carp successfully enter the Lakes.  We were excited to garner additional support for our coalition, and to raise public awareness of aquatic invasive species problematic throughout the state (visit the coalition website for more information).

High-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for oil and gas was the focus of the Club’s booth at the Southern Illinois event. Fracking, which is poised to take place across much of downstate Illinois, poses threats to fresh water at every stage of operation. Over 150 people showed their support for the Club’s position on fracking by signing a postcard to their legislator asking him/her to support a moratorium on fracking to allow the Department of Natural Resources time to review the environmental impacts of fracking and the state time to review, develop and establish potential regulations that will adequately safeguard our water and environment.

Many thanks to all the people who stopped by our booths in northern and southern Illinois and showed support for clean water and a healthy environment for our families, our wildlife and our future.

Hydraulic Fracturing Background Information

Industry is proposing to use high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to reach oil and/or natural gas in the New Albany Shale. After drilling into the shale, which is located between 4,000 to 5,000 feet down, the well bore is then drilled horizontally for up to a mile. Following the drilling the well is then “completed” or “fracked.” Fracking is process in which water, sand and toxic chemicals (fracking fluid) are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Each well uses between 2 to 8 million gallons of fresh water taken from our lakes and aquifers. Since one well is often fracked up to 18 times and there could be one well for every forty acres of land within the New Albany Shale, this amounts to an enormous quantity of fresh water taken out of the system.

Additionally, an estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid. Industry is proposing to store this toxic brew in open evaporation pits until it can be hauled away in tanker trucks to deep injection wells. Spills and leaks throughout this process are inevitable, putting wells, farm ponds, streams, lakes, and aquifers and the people, pets, livestock and wildlife that use them at great risk.

In some areas, after a well has been fracked, people’s well water has become contaminated by chemicals (some radioactive) that migrate into aquifers through natural fissures and/or possibly through abandoned wells.

Hackmatack! A Dream Come True…

This gallery contains 2 photos.

  “Nothing happens unless first a dream.”                                         -Carl Sandburg About eight years ago, Friends of Hackmatack adopted this quote as … Continue reading →

Gov. Quinn Signs New Law Promoting Cleaner Water and Better Farming Practices

Collaboration between farming groups and environmental organizations

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation Tuesday enacting new programs to help Illinois farmers reduce waste of fertilizer and resulting water pollution.   Governor Quinn signed House Bill 5539 on Agriculture Day at the Illinois State Fair.

“Nutrient pollution is Illinois’ most widespread water pollution problem, but helping farmers use fertilizers more effectively will bring cleaner water to rivers, lakes, and streams across Illinois,” said Jack Darin, Director of the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter.

Farmers apply nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen to maximize crop yields.   When more nutrients are applied than crops can take up, extra nutrients often wash into rivers and streams in the rain.   The excess nutrients fertilize algae in waterways, which leads to explosions in algae populations.   These algae populations create foul-smelling, pea green water, and suck oxygen out of the water that fish need to breathe, often leading to fish kills.

The new law will create the Nutrient Research and Education Council (NREC) to provide scientific expertise and new funds to help farmers use fertilizers most effectively, minimizing the amount that runs off into Illinois waters.  A new fee on commercial fertilizers will fund research and a grant program to help farmers deploy best practices for reducing fertilizer runoff.

“An active Nutrient Research and Education Council will be a real asset to Illinois’ overall efforts to clean up nutrient pollution,” said Dr. Cynthia Skrukrud, Clean Water Advocate for the Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter, who will serve as a member of the new Council.  “Efforts like these to help farmers implement solutions are and important part of an overall strategy that includes steps to also reduce nutrient pollution from all major sources, including sewage treatment plants, urban runoff, and agriculture.”

The new legislation is a product of a unique collaboration between Sierra Club, other clean water advocates, and agricultural organizations.   These groups are often at odds over how to reduce nutrient pollution, but worked together to create these new programs.  Now farmers will have access to the most up-to-date knowledge on fertilizer application, increasing crop yield, and preventing nutrient leaching.  Less water pollution means safer water for drinking, fishing, swimming, and aquatic wildlife.

“These new tools will help farmers make smart decisions about fertilizer application, and that will reduce pollution in our waterways,“ said Jack Darin, director of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club.   “We know farmers want to be part of the solution to water quality problems, and now they’ll have access to resources and technical expertise to do so.”

CONTACT: Jack Darin, (312) 251-1680×112

Key Illinois River Valley Wildlife Corridor Saved from Coal Strip Mining

In a big win for Illinois citizens over corporate mining interests, more than 600 acres of predominantly Illinois River floodplain have been saved from becoming a coal strip mine. On July 19^th, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) denied a surface mining permit for the proposed Banner coal mine, which was slated for land located next to the village of Banner in Fulton County. The permit would have allowed strip mining on a triangle-shaped site adjoining Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, Illinois Route 24, which is part of the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway, and Copperas Creek and the Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Areas.

Proposed mine site is the flooded area outlined in red. In the background is the Illinois River.

Both Banner Marsh and Rice Lake, internationally recognized as Globally Important Bird Areas, are home to nesting osprey, a historic bald eagle roost, the federally-threatened Decurrent False Aster and habitat for the state-endangered short-eared owl. The proposed mining would have also threatened residents’ drinking water supplies and the structural integrity of the village of Banner’s sewage treatment plant, located at the apex of the triangle.

In 2007, knowing that the proposed mine was not in the best interest of the residents or the environment, local citizens, including members of Citizens for the Preservation of Banner Township and Save Rice Lake Area Association, and the Sierra Club filed for an administrative review of the mining permit. The Illinois Attorney General and her Environmental Bureau agreed with the concerns and joined these groups in challenging the proposed mine.

“I have to thank IDNR for denying this coal mine,” said Ken Fuller, Mayor of the Village of Banner. “The real person to thank, though, is the Illinois Attorney General who filed in this case on behalf of the environment and the people of Illinois. Banner could have lost its wells and water if the coal mine had happened. I was really scared. My town could have died.”

Impacts on the hydrology of the area, including the bordering Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, were key issues in citizen concerns and in documents filed by the Illinois Attorney General. Citizens commissioned Geo-Hydro, Inc. to prepare a hydrogeology study of the mine’s impacts because attention to the hydrological impacts in the mine permit application was so lacking.

“It should not have had to take so many years to decide this permit appeal,” commented John Grigsby, a local resident and key petitioner in the appeal. “Thank heavens for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Her office comprehended what was at stake with this strip mine permit and took action on behalf of the future of our river floodplain and for the good of the regular citizens like me.”

The Sierra Club hopes that IDNR’s final denial of this permit heralds a new chapter in how our state sites new mines.  We look forward to IDNR heeding concerns raised by ordinary citizens earlier in the review process—before permits are awarded. Our common goal, as illustrated by this permit denial, is to ensure our precious water resources, wildlife and its habitat, and communities are protected.

No Safeguards? No Fracking!

Support SB 3280, House Amendment

The House is expected to vote soon! Please, contact your elected officials NOW and urge them to support SB 3280. Click here for a link to find your IL state representative.

High volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is on our doorstep and operations in Illinois are scheduled to begin as soon as this summer. Illinois does not currently have adequate safeguards in place to protect our air and water resources.

In order to protect our state’s air and water resources the Illinois General Assembly needs to act on Senate Bill 3280, House Amendment 3.

The bill puts a hold on fracking in the state of Illinois until June 1, 2014. During that time a thorough investigation is to be completed to determine what safeguards are needed to protect Illinois’ environment from the air and water pollution experienced in other states that have active fracking wells.

SB 3280 HA 3 will create a taskforce to make recommendations concerning the following:

• The protection of the state’s water resources
• Disclosure of information regarding chemicals used in the fracking process
• The practices of leasing or buying land for oil and gas rights
• Public hearings and comments regarding proposed fracking operations
• The handling, storage, and disposal of waste byproducts produced from fracking
• The control of air emissions from oil and gas wells
• Permitting requirements for fracking operations

The House is expected to vote on this today/tonight. Contact your elected officials NOW and urge them to support SB 3280. Here is a link to find your IL state representative.