Banner Seeking to Block Mining

By Jennifer Freeman, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.

Jan. 14–BANNER — Officials here have filed a petition with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, hoping the department will find an area outside the village unsuitable for surface coal mining operations.

At issue is 643 acres of farmland, woodland and wetland areas that Chicago-based Capital Resources Development Co. wants to mine. The company has been trying for several years to get a permit to mine about 1.6 million tons of coal from the site. The IDNR has put off ruling on the permit until a legal dispute over the closure of a township road on the site is settled. That issue was before the 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa last week.

Banner officials have maintained that mining at the site would have a possible impact on wells and sewer lines as well as area wildlife.

In July, village officials voted to send a petition to the IDNR requesting the area be declared unsuitable for mining. That request was flawed and sent back for revisions.

Earlier this month, Village Board President Ken Fuller hand-delivered the revised petition to IDNR official Scott Fowler, who supervises the agency’s land reclamation division.

The petition contained a geological study from geologist Chuck Norris of Denver, who began studying the site last summer. Norris indicates in the petition that mining at the site would affect the water service for Banner residents. He states the high water table would drop, causing wells to dry up and pull water from Banner Marsh.

Company officials dispute the assessment.

Village officials now have until February to provide the IDNR with additional information. At that time, the IDNR will review the material to see if it is complete.

The IDNR’s Fowler said finding an area unsuitable for surface coal mining is a lengthy process, and it generally takes about one year after the petition is complete to go through the entire process.

Once the petition is complete, the IDNR must then publish a newspaper advertisement notifying the public of the petition and make copies of the petition for interested parties. A public response portion will be opened, too. Once all that is done, the IDNR would prepare a land report that would include an overview of inventory of the area’s resources.

Within 10 months after the receipt of a complete petition, a hearing must be held if all parties agree one is necessary. A final written decision would be issued within 60 days of the hearing, or if no hearing is held, within one month of receiving the complete petition.

The time it takes from start to finish may be a contributing factor as to why the IDNR sees such a low number of requests like that from Banner officials.

There have only been two such requests, to be exact.

In 1984, the Rice Lake area south of Banner was found unsuitable for mining conditionally. Fowler said there were a couple of studies that had to be done to find the area suitable for mining, but the studies were never completed.

The second case involved a Knox County area in 1990.

Greg Arnett, director of surface operations for Capital Resources, has said he believes a coal mine could become the economic driver the area needs and would create a flourishing ecological wetland that would support wildlife and local tourism.

The company challenged the decision to deny the permit and has requested a hearing date be set to review. Fowler said a hearing date had not yet been set at this time.

Arnett said all his company can do now is wait. Until the hearing is set, there is no other direction for them to go.

“All we can do is wait for (the IDNR) and their hearing officer to schedule something,” he said.

Arnett said the IDNR’s administrative code does not cite a time frame within which a hearing must be set after a decision has been challenged.

“We have to follow the law, and that’s the way it read,” Arnett said.

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