Justice for Rocky Branch
Rocky Branch Community
Saline County Illinois
Rocky Branch Proposed Strip Mine
Permit Hearing
Justice for Rocky Branch
Speaks Out Against Strip Mine Permit #428
What: A public hearing to address concerns regarding Permit #428 to strip over 1,000 acres south of Rt. 13 in Cottage Grove Township.
Who: Citizens concerned about the destruction of their community, damage to their homes, destruction of streams and wetlands, destruction of a 200-acres forest, pollution of their water and air.
When: 6:00 PM
Where: Southeastern Illinois College, Robert Gregg Building, Room G120
BACKGROUND:
Peabody Coal’s Rocky Branch strip mine proposal consists of removing the surface of 1095 acres of earth to reach the coal below, including a 200-acre forested hill where the life-giving headwaters for all the streams in the valley begin. The mine would discharge dredge or fill material into the creeks and waterways of a majority of the 1094.5-acre site and fill 19,830 linear feet of ephemeral streams, 16,520 linear feet of intermittent streams, 3198 linear feet of perennial streams, several acres of wetlands, and 6.71 acres of open waters in Saline County, Illinois.
The state-endangered marsh rice rat has been found within the permit boundary and Peabody has applied for an incidental take permit to destroy the rice rats habitat.
Many residents, many of whom have lived there their entire lives, have refused to sell out to Peabody and the company plans to mine right up to the edge of their property and homes. They have already been affected by the mining across the highway at the Cottage Grove mine.
CONTACT:
Judy Kellen, 618-276-4748, 618-499-0501 (cell)
