Troubled mine wants to expand
Even as an underground fire has forced closure of a Montgomery County mine, the mine operator is seeking state permission to expand mining operations near Hillsboro.
The Deer Run mine, owned by St. Louis-based Foresight Energy, has been shut down since Dec. 2, when high levels of carbon monoxide were detected, signaling combustion somewhere in the mine. It was the fourth time that the mine had been shut down due to a fire since the summer of 2014. This time, the company has said, the mine, which began operations in 2012 under Foresight ownership, is closed indefinitely. Deer Run had been the most productive mine in the company’s portfolio of four Illinois mines.
More than 100 workers have lost their jobs – a federal lawsuit filed by terminated workers puts the number at as high as 160. The workers say they were not given 60 days’ notice of termination, as required by federal law.
Despite ceasing operations, Foresight in mid-December notified the state Department of Natural Resources that it wants permission to expand the mine’s footprint by more than 7,700 acres beneath land where mining has not yet occurred.
“It’s just ridiculous,” says Joyce Blumenshine, chairwoman of the mining issues committee for the Illinois Sierra Club. “They can’t even manage to put the fire out that they’ve got.”
Not particularly rare, subterranean coal fires can be dirty and are notoriously difficult to extinguish. Experts say that there are thousands burning across the globe. They can be set off by forces of nature, such as lightning, or by actions of humans, such as imprudent burning of landfills. Coal seams can also spontaneously combust. According to a 2010 report in Time magazine, there are between 100 and 200 coal fires burning in the U.S., and they produce dozens of pollutants, including methane, mercury and carbon dioxide. The most infamous U.S. fire, in Centralia, Pennsylvania, started in the 1960s and eventually forced permanent evacuation of a town. The fire is still burning.
Department of Natural Resource officials did not return phone calls, but Chris Young, DNR spokesman, told Midwest Energy News last month that the stubborn underground blaze will have no bearing on the state’s consideration of Foresight’s request to expand the mining footprint.
“The current mine atmosphere problems will have no influence on the review process for the proposed expansion of mining,” Young told the publication. “If the proposed mining is determined to meet the regulatory requirements and is approved, it will simply afford the company additional mining area in the event the mine can someday resume production.”
Megan Beeler, a member of the Montgomery County board, said that board members have had concerns about coal dust as opposed to fire but have been refused help from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“I know we have had some issues with EPA,” Beeler said. “We have requested, repeatedly, that they put in air monitors, and they have repeatedly refused to do so.”
Kim Biggs, IEPA spokesperson, confirmed via email that her agency has declined requests to install air monitoring equipment after receiving complaints about coal dust. When it comes to coal dust, the agency relies on complaints from residents, she said, and IEPA issued a notice of violation to the mine on Jan. 14, 2015. The mine took steps to address dust issues, she said, and IEPA has received no complaints about dust since late 2014 or early 2015, she said. The Department of Natural Resources, not IEPA, has jurisdiction over mine fires, she added.
Montgomery County receives royalties from the sale of Deer Run coal, and Beeler, who chairs the county board’s finance committee, said that Deer Run’s closure is hurting coffers. Royalty payments began in February 2012 and have totaled more than $8.4 million, she said. The county’s annual general fund is $7 million, she said, and monies from royalties are used for different purposes, including a rainy day fund that now contains $4.7 million. Coal royalties have accounted for about 14 percent of the county’s general fund, she said, and the board is beginning budget discussions early this year out of concern for lost coal royalties.
The fire that has shut down the mine is just part of the equation, Beeler said. She noted that the market for coal has cooled dramatically.
“We knew that coal wouldn’t last forever,” Beeler said. “We just didn’t know how long it would last.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
