The operators of an Illinois coal mine defied orders and dumped toxic foam deep underground as part of an unsuccessful attempt to extinguish a fire that had stalled production in September.
The foam will stay in the environment forever, scientists said.
An attorney for St. Louis-based Foresight Energy told state officials that the foam used at the Sugar Camp complex was biodegradable and would not harm the wildlife or fish. Inspectors later discovered that the company had actually pumped more than 46,000 gallons of unregulated chemicals known as PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which could possibly contaminate nearby private wells and other sources of drinking water, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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PFAS are a growing concern worldwide because of the harm they do environmentally. The foam used is being phased out in Illinois and 11 other states. If a person comes into contact with it, it could lead to cancer, liver damage, and decreased fertility.
The Sugar Camp opened in 2008 and has shown up multiple times on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of chronic violators of the federal Clean Water Act. Five miners have also been killed on the job over the years.
Melanie Benesh, an attorney for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization pushing to ban the chemicals altogether, said PFAS can “seep into groundwater where it won’t break down. If the contaminated groundwater is a source of drinking water, then residents may be exposed to PFAS.”
The fire as well as Foresight’s response were kept under wraps until a local environmental activist took pictures of the foam that had drifted to above-ground ditches and farm fields near the mine entrance in Franklin County, which is about 270 miles southwest of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The activist, whose name has not been released, forwarded the photos to state officials as well as the newspaper, which then filed a Freedom of Information Act request for additional details.
Records show that company officials also hired contractors to drill boreholes illegally into the mine without a permit. One of those boreholes is close to a creek that was found this month to have high levels of PFAS.
Foresight’s use of PFAS-contained foam came a month after federal and state regulators ordered the company to switch to safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Portions of the Illinois mine are still on fire. Federal regulators have blocked the company from resuming production.
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Foresight is one of the last coal companies operating in Illinois. It declared bankruptcy last year yet produced more than half of the state’s 32 million tons of coal mined in 2020. Nearly all of the coal Foresight mines is shipped to other states and countries.
Calls for comment to Foresight by the Washington Examiner were not immediately returned.
