click to enlarge PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Waste impoundment dams at Viper Mine near Elkhart. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE

The mine which supplies coal to Springfield’s municipal utility faces opposition from neighbors against a plan to expand a coal ash disposal site near Elkhart.The contested plan comes as the coal industry faces significant market pressure and pollution challenges.On March 31, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources held a public hearing in Elkhart, about 12 miles northeast of Springfield, on a proposal to expand nearby coal waste storage run by coal company ICG Illinois. A subsidiary of St. Louis-based Arch Coal, ICG runs the Viper Mine, which supplies coal to Springfield City Water, Light and Power. CWLP returns the coal ash from its electricity generation to Viper Mine, where it is stored in above-ground “waste impoundment dams.” ICG wants to expand one of its dams to store more coal waste.About 30 people attended the DNR hearing at a church in Elkhart, with several people voicing concerns about pollution of the air, water and soil, as well as potential habitat loss for birds and a threatened species of bat.Lisa Pasquesi is a descendant of John Dean Gillett, an early Elkhart resident, prominent cattle importer and breeder, shipping magnate and friend of Abraham Lincoln. Pasquesi and her family live on the historic Old Gillett Farm, which sits atop Elkhart Hill, about one mile from the current Viper Mine waste impoundment dam. The family’s land, which consists of farmland, virgin timberland and restored prairie and wetlands, touches the land owned by ICG Illinois and its parent company, St. Louis-based Arch Coal.Pasquesi is one of the leaders of the opposition to ICG’s proposal. She says the heavy metals and other chemicals – including arsenic, selenium, chromium and manganese – contained in the coal ash at ICG’s existing dams have already leached into the underlying aquifer and the private wells attached to it. Pasquesi believes the proposal to add nearly 300 more acres of coal ash disposal will exacerbate the problem.Wind often blows dust from the existing waste dam to nearby properties, Pasquesi says, and the additional disposal area would bring more dust. She says her family’s cattle and horses have an abnormally high rate of spontaneous abortion, which she attributes to pollution from the existing waste dams.Arch Coal spokeswoman Logan Bonacorsi said the mine employs workers from within a 35-mile radius, with a safety record more than two times better than the industry average. She pegged the economic value of the mine for nearby communities at $52 million annually. Bonacorsi was preparing responses to further questions at press time.The Elkhart Village Board opposes the plan and sent village attorney Don Behle to speak on its behalf at the hearing on March 31. Behle said the village well draws water from the aquifer beneath the impoundment areas.“The village’s concern is that any breach of the impoundment or, over time, the leaching from the impoundment, would cause carcinogens to get in our drinking water,” Behle said.Elkhart village trustee Dr. Margaret Lee spoke at length during the meeting, reading several objections and questions about the proposal into the hearing record in anticipation of a potential lawsuit. Lee and her husband, Paul Lee, a retired geologist, say they’re up against a regulatory system that favors the coal industry.Opposition to mine projects has put some plans in Illinois on hold and called DNR’s objectivity into question. A landowner in Hillsboro, about 36 miles south of Springfield, is currently suing DNR for allegedly ignoring a regulation that she says would prohibit the coal waste impoundment dam at the Deer Run Mine from being left in place permanently. In January 2015, Canton Area Citizens for Environmental Issues defeated a coal mine proposal near Peoria when the group caused DNR to admit in court that it had misinterpreted a regulation defining “intermittent streams” since 1982, significantly lowering the hurdle for past mine projects to proceed.DNR staff at the March 31 hearing in Elkhart addressed several questions from speakers opposed to the ICG proposal, including questions about groundwater monitoring, protection of nearby habitat for the threatened long-eared bat and what happens if Arch Coal folds. Still, Pasquesi and others believe the ICG proposal will have negative consequences for the environment and their community.Arch Coal, ICG’s parent company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and seeks to dump billions of dollars in debt during restructuring. In March, Arch Coal scuttled a planned mine in Montana amid financial problems and backlash over its mine proposal.The controversy in Elkhart comes as the coal industry itself faces existential challenges. Phil Gonet, executive director of the Illinois Coal Association, says demand for coal has declined because of an abundance of cheap natural gas and tightening environmental regulations. Gonet says coal “will never go away” because of its central role in meeting energy demands.“There’s always going to be some level of coal used,” Gonet said.