Posted on May 11, 2017
By Robert Themer, Daily Journal
The Kankakee River Roundtable, reactivated Thursday after 18 idle months, has launched a campaign to pressure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to investigate ways to curb the long-standing sand and sediment problems in the river in Illinois and Indiana.
Roundtable chairman Tim Nugent is encouraging organizations in the river basin to write to federal legislators and the Corps of Engineers to press for action. He set a deadline of June 1. Letters can be sent to Nugent by email to tnugent@kankakeecountyed.org, or by mail to the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County at 200 E. Court St., Suite 507, Kankakee, Ill. 60901.
The campaign was launched near the end of a two-hour meeting that drew 30 participants from at least 20 organizations concerned about the river as a natural resource and an economic and recreational asset to the region.
Nugent, who also is CEO of the Economic Alliance, explained he had sent letters last Sept. 2 to U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk outlining the river problems and asking that the Corps of Engineers be empowered to collaborate with local and regional planning officials for solutions.
He said he also met with Durbin “to explain to him the urgency of what we are trying to do” and that Durbin suggested getting the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency involved.
Kirk was defeated in the November election by Tammy Duckworth and, since the election of President Donald Trump, Nugent said he hasn’t heard anything from Durbin or the Corps of Engineers.
State Rep. Lindsey Parkhurst, R-Kankakee, said she would support the effort and would contact other state and federal legislators whose districts include the Kankakee River basin.
The river roundtable was created through the Economic Alliance in 2011 and worked on a plan to remove sand from the river in a demonstration project at Aroma Park. After that plan failed about 18 months ago, the roundtable stopped meeting.
Nugent credited Thursday’s renewed meeting to the Kankakee River conference sponsored by Olivet Nazarene University in February and organized by biology professor Randy Johnson. Nugent spoke at the close of that half-day conference to emphasize the importance of the river to the region’s economy.
He said he decided to reconvene the roundtable after hearing from many people at the conference. Support for resuming regular meetings was voiced Thursday, including suggestions to involve more Indiana representatives and to meet in evenings rather than 10 a.m. to boost participation.
Source: Daily Journal
