Send a lump of coal to a repeat polluter and |
Dear
Coal in the stocking is usually reserved for the naughty this time of year. The citizens of Canton in Fulton County don't deserve a stocking full of coal, or their drinking water polluted by coal.
Sadly, a new coal strip mine has been proposed for the area that threatens the safety and quantity of drinking water for 20,000 people and will permanently destroy miles of tributary streams in the Copperas Creek watershed, which the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has identified as a strategic watershed in the Illinois River Bluffs regions due to its high quality habitat. Allowing the mine to destroy these streams is in complete opposition to the IDNR's plan to "protect the good stuff first."
Send a lump of coal to a repeat polluter and protect the drinking water of 20,000 people!
The North Canton coal strip mine, proposed by Capital Resources Development Company, LLC would be located just over a mile upstream from Canton Lake. The company has another mine in Industry, IL. The Industry Mine in McDonough County has had 300 Clean Water Act violations since 2003. Despite ongoing legal action since 2009, the Industry Mine continues to flout the law and continues to pollute.
Let's make sure that Capital Resources gets coal in their stocking for being on the naughty list of polluters. Join the nice list and add your support to a broad alliance of farmers, business people, health care professionals, teachers, attorneys, students, retirees, camping, hunting, and fishing enthusiasts who have all come together to protect their area's sole source of drinking water from an ill-conceived and potentially disastrous mine proposal.
Take action today and tell Illinois EPA to say no to a pollution permit for the North Canton strip mine and send a lump of coal to a company that continuously violates the Clean Water Act.
Season's greetings and thanks for your help and support,
Jen Hensley
Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter
Note: This alert has 2 pieces as we also have an opportunity to say no to the water pollution permit and the habitat destruction. Look for step 2, after completing step 1.