Fracking Legislation in Springfield – Where We Stand

Sierra Club is opposed to fracking.  Fracking is devastating to communities and families all over the country — polluting our air and water, and contributing to the destabilization of our climate.

That’s why the Sierra Club supports a moratorium on fracking in Illinois: we want to stop destructive drilling before it can start. Our responsibility is to ensure our representatives take the strongest possible actions to protect our families and the environment.  We stand with Representative Mell, Senator Hunter, Speaker Madigan, and other legislators who have expressed their support for a two-year timeout while we analyze the tremendous risks fracking poses for Illinois.

While we stand with all of those calling for a moratorium, we also acknowledge that, until we pass a moratorium, fracking is legal in Illinois, and may indeed already may be occurring.  HB2615 does not allow or open the door to fracking in Illinois — unfortunately that door is wide open today, and our health and environment are at great risk.  Our pre-World War II Oil and Gas Act is entirely inadequate to protect us from fracking’s many threats, and our Department of Natural Resources has none of the resources needed to oversee this controversial industry.  For these reasons we support The Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act, HB 2615, which will provide at least some solid measures to protect ourselves from the dangers of fracking.   However, our support for these protections does not mean they give us any confidence that fracking in Illinois can be done safely, or that any regulatory regime could adequately address all of the risks posed by fracking.  On the contrary, we oppose fracking coming to Illinois and continue to build support for a moratorium.

A far safer and better path to job creation and economic development in Illinois is to continue to build our clean energy economy.   We have created over 20,000 jobs in wind and solar energy since Illinois set clean energy targets in 2007, and that is only the beginning of the economic and environmental benefits if we prioritize clean energy.   Conservation efforts can also create jobs and business opportunities while reducing the demand for natural gas, and lower our utility bills.   We urge the General Assembly to approve pending renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to help Illinois take advantage of these opportunities and all the benefits they offer our state.

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.

Over the Cliff: Not a Happy New Year for Illinois’ Environment

Past the cliff comes what, the abyss?

Wherever the metaphors and rhetoric are headed as the stalemate in Congress continues, here in the real world the stakes are high for our health and the quality of our land, air, and water.

We probably won’t notice a change in the first days or couple weeks after going over the “cliff”, but make no mistake about it: the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the progress we’ve made in cleaning up both are at risk as the crisis plays out. Let’s take a look at a few of the potential impacts.

A Halt to Healing the Great Lakes?
Lake Michigan provides drinking water for over half of Illinois’ residents, and together the Great Lakes contain one fifth of the fresh water on the planet. In recent years, we have begun to turn the corner on some of the lakes’ most persistent pollution problems thanks to the Clean Water Act and investments in sewage treatment. President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has provided over a billion dollars in new funding to clean up toxic waste sites around the lakes, like Waukegan Harbor, and protect the habitats that are crucial their health.

Mandatory cuts would create strong pressure to reduce or stop this important work in progress. It would also end up costing us all more in the long run.

“Cutting funding to essential clean water programs will not save the nation one penny,” according to Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of Alliance for the Great Lakes. “In fact, cutting these programs will only make projects harder and more expensive the longer we wait. At a time when lawmakers need to make smart budget choices, Great Lakes restoration offers one of the best returns on the dollar in the federal budget. It’s a winner for the environment and the economy.”

Hitting Pause on Pollution Control?
We all count on the scientists and other professionals at the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce our environmental laws and crack down on scofflaws who would jeopardize our health by cutting corners on pollution controls. EPA is now planning for how to accommodate deep, immediate cuts that would put many of these public servants off the job. This would not only snarl enforcement efforts but increase the strain on their state partners, such as Illinois EPA, who count on federal support in managing with their own severe resource constraints.

Standing Down From Stopping Asian Carp?
Since invasive Asian Carp were discovered within miles of Lake Michigan in 2009, the Obama Administration has marshaled an unprecedented effort
to keep the aquatic invaders out in the short term and plan for a permanent solution at the same time. The cliff cuts would likely be a double-whammy for these efforts, as the US Army Corps of Engineers will be cut as part of mandatory defense spending reductions, and non-defense cuts will impact the federal biologists and Illinois Department of Natural Resources and their intensive efforts. To date, they’ve been able to keep the carp out of the lake, but for how long, once the rug has been pulled out from under them?

Lost Opportunities to Save our Last Wild Places
Illinois scored a big win for future generations this year when the US Fish and Wildlife Service established the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in McHenry County and southern Wisconsin – the first Refuge in the Chicago region. This was an historic accomplishment, but it was really the first step toward making this wonderful asset a reality. Now the Service is working with local partners to plan the land acquisition to transform the Refuge from a place on the map to a place we can experience the great outdoors. Without the capacity to preserve these lands now, some will undoubtedly increase in price, and perhaps be lost forever to development rather than be a part of the Refuge our children can experience in the future. We also count on the Fish and Wildlife Service to manage and restore ten other Refuges in Illinois,just as we count on the Forest Service to protect our Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and the Shawnee National Forest.

Cuts To Clean Water
Illinois is making major headway against some of our more stubborn water pollution problems. A coordinated effort to restore the Illinois River is resulting in cleaner water, plans are in place to clean up suburban waters like the Fox and DuPage watersheds, and the Chicago River system is on the verge of a major recovery now that major wastewater treatment upgrades are planned. All of this will take investment, of course, and Governor Pat Quinn recently launched the Illinois Clean Water Initiative to help make these investments. However, federal support has always been an important part of clean water infrastructure investment, and Illinois is counting on that support to implement these plans. Federal grants support state programs to loan the dollars needed by cities and wastewater agencies to make these improvements, at better rates and terms than private lenders would offer. This gives us clean water, and lower property tax bills to boot. Mandatory federal cuts would surely fall hard on support for these state clean water funds, and delay or cancel these plans to revitalize the waters that make up the heart of so many Illinois communities.

In addition to the direct budget cuts, the deadlock in Congress also jeopardizes the tremendous growth in the Illinois clean energy industry. Illinois has seen over 20,000 jobs created in wind power alone in the last five years, due mostly to new state clean energy targets and a key federal tax incentive. That federal tax incentive is now expiring, with no apparent consensus among Republicans to keep the economic and environmental benefits from wind power coming online.

Clearly this is not a good way to start the New Year. However, if there is a silver lining to this mess, it could be that if forces all of us to think about how much we depend on these programs and investments to protect our health and our environment for future generations. Let’s hope that it also starts to matter to the members of Congress who can lead us out of the abyss, but so far seem to prefer protecting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The air we breathe and the water we drink matters to each and every one of us, no matter what your tax bracket.

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!

 

Coal Ash Chronicles

This December will be the 4-year anniversary of the tragic coal ash waste impoundment failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee when a billion gallons of toxic coal ash flooded the surrounding residential area and water bodies with extremely dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, and other toxins.

In May of 2010 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the proposal for the first-ever national rules to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants and the structural integrity of coal ash impoundments. At the time of the announcement, Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator, stated, “The time has come for common-sense national protections to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash. We’re proposing strong steps to address the serious risk of groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water and we’re also putting in place stronger safeguards against structural failures of coal ash impoundments. The health and the environment of all communities must be protected.”

The coal ash waste impoundment at Dynegy Energy’s Havana Power Plant on the Illinois River is larger than the ash impoundment that failed in 2008 at the TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

From the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, the nation’s primary law for regulating solid waste, arose two options for addressing the risks of coal ash management. Simply put, Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal, is the option that is clearly more protective of the health and environment of all communities. The other option, Subtitle D does not classify coal ash as hazardous waste, merely sets performance guidelines that are not enforceable by EPA, does not prohibit wet ash storage impoundments, does not require states to comply with minimum national standards for coal ash disposal, does not require utilities to monitor old landfills or waste ponds, does not require states to issue permits, and does not require regulations governing the pre-disposal management of coal ash such as storage, transportation, accidental spills, etc.

After the EPA announced the proposed rules it went out for public comment. Many of you were among the 450,000 people who commented on the proposed rule during the summer of 2010. We’ve been waiting now for two years for a final ruling.

Forty-three percent of the active and retired coal waste landfills are unlined and 53 percent lack leachate collection systems.

In the meantime, this summer EPA released data showing the number of coal ash disposal ponds and landfills is far greater than previously known. The data released by the EPA to Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) revealed that there are at least 451 more coal ash ponds and 56 additional landfills than previously acknowledged. Forty-six percent of the 1,161 ponds are not lined, which means there is nothing to prevent contaminates from leaching into water supplies. Forty-three percent of the active and retired landfills are unlined and 53 percent lack leachate collection systems.

On October 3, 2012, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Environmental Law & Policy Center, Prairie Rivers Network and Illinois-based Citizens Against Ruining the Environment filed a legal complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board against Midwest Generation for violations of Illinois state solid waste and groundwater laws at four power-generating facilities in Illinois: the Joliet 29, Powerton, Waukegan and Will County Generating Stations.

Meanwhile, while we’ve been waiting a final ruling, industry has been pushing hard to completely remove EPA’s authority to regulate coal ash altogether. Last summer, legislation introduced by Rep. David B. McKinley (R-WV) to prevent EPA from regulating coal ash was attached to a completely unrelated must-pass transportation bill. Fortunately, that maneuver was thwarted. Then came Senate Bill 3512, the Hoeven-Conrad-Baucus coal ash bill, designed to permanently remove EPA’s authority to regulate coal ash, to eliminate waste ponds, impose regulations on states to issue permits or close leaking and dangerous sites.

Yesterday it was confirmed that the original sponsors of S. 3512 were trying to attach it as an amendment to a military spending bill coming out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This morning an email arrived from our friends at Earthjustice with news that last night Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke on the Senate floor about coal ash and it’s dangers, warning that she would remain in the Senate floor for as long as it would take to ensure that a coal ash rider does not get added to the Department of Defense funding bill.

The battle continues, but its encouraging to know that there are leaders with integrity watching out for our families and our future.

IDNR Funding Package Goes to Gov Quinn!!

Today the Illinois Senate approved legislation (SB1566) to provide desperately needed funding for Illinois’ state parks and conservation efforts. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has been devastated over the last decade by severe cuts to their budget and payroll, leaving them stretched beyond capacity.

We applaud the terrific work of the lead sponsors of the legislation, House Deputy Majority Leader Frank Mautino and State Senator Toi Hutchinson, in building support for this new funding. We also thank Governor Quinn and IDNR Director Marc Miller for their efforts to rebuild the Department and win the confidence of bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate for this legislation.

We count on the IDNR to provide safe, quality outdoor recreation experiences that improve our quality of life and boost local economies, to protect our water supplies, and watch out for the health of our environment. With new, sustainable funding, the professionals at IDNR will continue to do their critical work, and us and future generations to enjoy Illinois’ great outdoors.

Find out how your Senator voted here.

Pollution Control Board Finds Industry Mine in Violation of Water Permit

Polluted runoff from Industry Mine.

For eight years, between 2004 and 2011, Springfield Coal Company’s 5,651-acre Industry Mine in McDonough and Schuyler Counties violated its water permit 624 times. Pollutants including sulfates, iron, manganese, pH and total suspended and settled solids were released at 16 of 17 outflow points into tributaries of Grindstone Creek. Grindstone Creek flows into the LaMoine River, which flows into the Illinois River.

Industry Mine

In 2009, the Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) notified the state of their intent to sue over 363 permit violations. In response, on February 10, 2010, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed a suit before the Pollution Control Board. On the 25^th ELPC filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Sierra Club and PRN. Over the course of the next two years Industry Mine continued to rack up pollution violations, which today amount to 624.

In a ruling released on November 16^th, the Illinois Pollution Control Board found Springfield Coal Company’s Industry Mine in violation of its water permit. Springfield Coal and its predecessor, Freeman United Coal Mining Company, face a maximum penalty of $64 million.

The penalty phase of the lawsuit will take place at a hearing at a future date to be determined. Although the Board rarely imposes the maximum fine, its our opinion that this fine should be substantial enough to send a clear message to Springfield Coal and the industry as a whole that clean water standards in Illinois will be enforced!

Industry Mine
Photo credit: Marianne Morgan/InIllinoisWater.org

The extreme number of pollution violations at Industry Mine is of particular concern because Springfield Coal is also seeking permits to open two new strip mines in west-central Illinois. One, the North Canton Mine strip mine is proposed directly upstream from Canton Lake, Canton’s public water supply for over 20,000 people.

We commend everyone who took part in this important case, which demands the protection public waterways from chronic violators. From the engaged citizens who saw what was going on and knew they had to take action, to the Attorney General’s Office that took up this case, to the Pollution Control Board that did a thorough review of the data, all played an important role in a system that works if we pay attention and stay involved.