Middle Fork and County Video Updates

First off, if you've been waiting for new County government videos, there's a new batch on the County Clerk's YouTube channel here. They include the 2/26 County Board Strategic Planning Study Session, the 3/5 Facilities Committee meeting, the 3/7 Environment and Land Use Committee, and the last County Board Committee of the Whole on 3/12.

There have a been a few news items related to the Middle Fork River in the past couple weeks. First there are some upcoming Dark Sky events, including some at our recently certified Dark Sky park for astronomical viewing. From the News-Gazette last week:

International Dark Sky Week is April 1-7, and Middle Fork River Forest Preserve, which is now an official Dark Sky Park, is hosting a special event the week after on April 13 called Discover the Night Sky at the Activity Center in the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve. From 7:30 to 10 that night, you can celebrate the dark sky at one of the darkest spots in Champaign County and learn about the night sky and light pollution, participate in hands-on activities, create and take home special crafts, speak with astronomy experts and look through telescopes. The event is free and open to all ages. No registration is required. For more information, call 217586-2612.

Blurb available at the News-Gazette eEdition here. There were also some public input given at the recent Illinois Environmental Protection Hearing on the Dynergy toxic coal ash issue (more posts on the bank armoring issue here and the toxic ash issue here). From the News-Gazette this week:

Crowd at IEPA hearing pushes for removal of coal ash near Middle ForkDespite warnings against making comments regarding coal-ash removal at Tuesday's public hearing held by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, most of the people who spoke ignored that directive.

And if there were any doubt where the more than 250 people in the audience stood on the issue, all doubt was gone after one public commenter, Cindy Shepherd with Faith In Place, asked for a show of hands: Who wants the coal ash to be moved away from the Middle Fork River?

An overwhelming majority quickly put their hands in the air...

The riverbank, which has significantly eroded, is the only thing between the river and two coal-ash impoundments on the site of the former Vermilion Power Station, which Dynegy closed in 2011.

The ash contains contaminants that can harm the environment, and Dynegy wants to stabilize the bank to avoid a collapse that could release those contaminants into the river.

But, for years, local environmental organizations have urged Dynegy, the IEPA and other government officials that the energy company should move the coal ash away from the floodplain of the river. Removal will ensure there will never be a spill and eliminate the need for future streambank stabilization projects, they argue.

More at the full article here. There was a lot of additional information on the background in an article previewing the tensions prior to this meeting as well. It has general information about the issues, but also explains the frustrations of those who have been trying to be heard about removing the toxic ash itself instead of what they consider temporary solutions:

At 6 p.m. Tuesday at Danville Area Community College's Mary Miller Gymnasium, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is granting the public its first official — and maybe only — opportunity to comment on the record about Dynegy's plan to reinforce about 1,950 feet of bank separating the Middle Fork River from more than 3 million yards of coal ash.

River regulars have been pushing for more than four years for a public hearing on the Dynegy coal-ash impoundments. And although this hearing is narrowly focused on the stream bank project, Light and the Richarts said it's impossible to separate the two...
Coal-ash spills elsewhere — including one near Kingston, Tenn., and another in Eden, N.C. — caused "widespread environmental and economic damage to nearby waterways and properties," according to the U.S. EPA...

Rather than the proposed monthslong stream bank stabilization, Eco-Justice, the Prairie Rivers Network and other environmental groups would prefer to see quicker, smaller-scale emergency work done to the bank now, followed by long-term efforts to move the ash.

That full article here.