LINCOLN — The Viper Mine in Elkhart and its more than 300 jobs are safe after the Logan County Board voted Tuesday to rezone a chunk of farmland so it can be turned into a storage area for coal waste.
The mine's owners had warned Viper would bite the dust and shut down, taking it's good-paying jobs with it, if the rezoning did not go through.
The issue had sparked strong feelings with miners appealing to the county board to vote to save their jobs.
But protestors, many of them Elkhart residents, cited concerns of drinking water contamination and had urged the board to say no to the rezoning.
The board had met last month to consider the issue and put it off for a month while Logan County State's Attorney Jonathan Wright contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to see if the department had any environmental worries.
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The County Board was told Tuesday that the department had no issues, but the mine owners had voluntarily removed 40 acres from their original application to rezone 322 acres; these 40 are closest to an area set aside for wildlife.
The board voted first to accept an amended rezoned area without the 40 acres and then voted to allow the mine's application to go ahead. It was carried with 10 votes in favor with one no vote and one abstention.
But the protestors, who packed one side of the recreation hall meeting location while miners and their supporters filled the other, did not accept defeat without one last fight. They had several expert witnesses on their side, including Traci Barkley, a water resources scientist from the Champaign-based Prairie Rivers Network.
Before the vote, she had warned the board of documented contamination from other coal waste storage sites, contamination that has required cleanup plans due to last 500 years. “Are you willing to trade your residents' drinking water supply away for a 500-year cleanup plan and additional investment in an alternative water resource?” she said.
Those speaking on the mine's behalf included Phillip Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association trade group. He pointed to the mine's 32-year clean record of operating without causing environmental problems and asked the board to trust in the “many agencies” charged with overseeing the mine was run properly.
Miner Chad Kamarad said miners enjoyed being part of the community and would give the shirt off their backs to help it out.
“All I am asking is that no one take the shirt off ours, or take the food out of our children's mouths,” he added. “And think hard, folks: 300 jobs isn't something we can get back. This community has suffered enough with jobs that have gone south, gone elsewhere.”
Speaking after the meeting, Viper Mine President Erwin Sass said he was pleased with the decision, which he said had been critical for the mine's future. Responding to claims that the mine's shutdown and jobs loss threat wasn't genuine, he insisted it was no bluff. “There were 321 jobs at stake to be exact,” he added. “And that includes my job.”