I join with Citizens Opposing Pollution in asking Secretary Jewell to withdraw approval of the Illinois government's coal mining program. We ask Secretary Jewell to uphold the Federal Coal Mining law in order to allow Illinois citizens to stop the poisoning of their water which the government continues to ignore.
Why is this important?
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Citizens Opposing Pollution v. Exxon that citizens cannot sue for substantive violations of the coal mining statute. IDNR gives illegal permits and we need to sue over permanent site conditions like Exxon's 422 acres of illegally impounded hazardous slurry that has poisoned water formerly used for drinking by everyone in the Albers - Germantown, Illinois area.
