FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 7, 2021
Contacts: Hannah Lee Flath, hannahlee.flath@sierraclub.org, 860-634-0225
FRANKLIN COUNTY, IL. -- Today, Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s Office filed a complaint on behalf of the State of Illinois against Sugar Camp Energy, LLC for violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. This complaint comes after reports that operators at the Sugar Camp Mine dumped 46,000 gallons of fire fighting foam, including at least 660 gallons of concentrated PFAS-based foam deep into the underground mine in an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish a fire that had been burning underground last year. Sierra Club Illinois and the Prairie Rivers Network, represented by Great Rivers Environmental Law Center and Albert Ettinger, previously filed a Notice of Intent to sue Sugar Camp Energy LLC and American Consolidated Natural Resources in November 2021.
In response, Sierra Club Illinois and Prairie Rivers Network released the following statement:
“We are pleased that Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois EPA are holding Sugar Camp Energy, LLC accountable for their actions,” says Sierra Club Illinois Director Jack Darin. “The use of firefighting foam containing toxic PFAS chemicals at Sugar Camp Mine is the latest reminder that Illinois must move beyond coal and transition to a safer, renewable energy future. That future starts by holding coal companies like Sugar Camp Energy, LLC accountable for their actions and protecting communities from further harm.”
“The Illinois AG and Illinois EPA are moving in the right direction by filing this complaint. Sugar Camp Mine discharges to tributaries of Akin Creek and Middle Fork Big Muddy River and to the Akin Creek and Middle Fork Big Muddy River bodies of water directly,” says Andrew Rehn, Water Resources Engineer with Prairie Rivers Network. “As Illinois phases out the type of firefighting foam used under the recently passed PFAS Reduction Act, it is critical that the state holds polluters accountable when violations occur in order to protect local watersheds and the health of nearby communities.”