CARBONDALE, IL -- A package of $7.7 million in state and federal funds will bring a new coal mine to southern Illinois, the governor's office said.
The new Liberty Coal Co. mine near Harco, southwest of Galatia, is planned for a site another company abandoned about two years ago, Brad Cole, assistant to the governor, said Wednesday.
The new mine will bring 125 jobs, Williamson County Republican Party chairman Robert "Dog" Connell said.
Liberty Coal received a state permit Aug. 16 to mine a coal seam where Brushy Creek Coal Co. once operated. But managing director Paul Smock said then that funding for the new company was not certain.
The state's part of the funding package is $3.2 million, Cole said. Loans backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture total $4.5 million, he said.
The number of coal jobs in Illinois fell from 18,000 a decade ago to 5,000 today after Clean Air Act regulations made it too expensive for power plants to burn the state's high-sulfur coal. Most plants switched to cleaner Western coal, and officials say they would have to retrofit their plants -- or build new ones -- to burn Illinois coal.
Also, about 95 percent of new power plants built in the United States are fueled by natural gas, which produces less pollution. Such plants also are cheaper to build, though volatility in gas prices has made coal more attractive.
In June, Gov. George Ryan signed a package of low-interest loans, tax breaks and other incentives aimed at luring coal-burning power companies to Illinois.
The incentives are working, said Eric Gregg, a regional economic development specialist with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' Office of Coal Development and Marketing.
"Everyone across the U.S. is looking at Southern Illinois coal now," Gregg said. "It's a great time to be a part of the industry."
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