DANVILLE — The Illinois Department of Natural Resources halts recreational boating activities on the Vermilion and Middle Fork rivers from Potomac to the state line.
“The IDNR Office of Mines and Minerals has identified a significant seepage of water from neighboring lake embankments within Kickapoo State Recreation Area. Out of an abundance of caution, the river has been closed to public access until IDNR can fully assess the stability of the riverbank. IDNR will follow up with more information as it becomes available,” shared on the Kickapoo section of the IDNR website.
In a letter from Captain Matthew Viverito to Director Jim Montgomery, Viverito said that ‘significant seepage’ led to increasing the ‘instability’ of the waterways.
“This seepage increases the instability of the riverbank, making navigation of the river significantly more dangerous to the public should the riverbank fall,” Viverito wrote.
The impact begins at the “confluence of the Vermilion River proper at Vermilion County Road 1580 North,” Viverito writes.
Andrew Rehn with the Illinois Prairie Rivers Network says the issue stems from an old coal-mining embankment near Clear Pond at Kickapoo State Park, not the Dynegy site, which has made a few headlines lately. Rehn added this closure has nothing to do with pollution.
Rehn says the safety issue is caused by the seepage from a nearby recreational lake flowing through the embankment and into the river. The lake sits about 13 feet higher than the river, creating pressure on the barrier.
“They found some seeps coming through that embankment,” he said. “One seep was flowing at about 20 gallons per minute, a rate the source said raised concerns about further erosion and the embankment’s stability.”
Rehn said he spoke with the IDNR Monday morning and they are looking into a solution.
Rehn added the recent flooding may have worsened the condition of the embankments, but it would take an on-site assessment to determine whether the issue worsened from flooding.
He called it a “seesaw effect,” in which high river water pushes into an embankment and later flows back out, potentially opening pathways through it.
Just last month, on Sept. 14, IDNR closed a portion of the Middle Fork Vermilion River project. They closed it down south downstream of mile marker No. 8, marked by buoys, float lines, and signage.
That closure was to enact a “streambank stabilization project,” impacting 750 feet of shoreline and 30 feet into the river.
“I recommend immediately implementing a Restricted Access Area on the Middle Fork Vermilion River and the Vermilion River from the town of Potomac to the Illinois/Indiana state line,” Viverito said in his letter to Montgomery. The restriction will remain in effect for no longer than 90 days.
Brandon Damm, the IDNR Public Information Officer referred back to the document posted on their website and said there is, “No additional information is available at this time.”