On February 19, 2014, the residents of the small central Illinois town of Hillsboro came to a pubic hearing to challenge the Department of Natural Resources over its renewal of a permit to mine coal within their city's limits. With adjacent lands already subsiding, residents of Hillsboro asked why the hydrological analysis for the original permit did not include the full mining area; why affected farmland did not have to be restored to full productive potential; and why the community would be left with the toxic legacy of two giant coal slurry ponds after the mine operators leave. After five years, the citizens' request for an administrative hearing challenging the original permit remains unanswered, yet the permit renewal process proceeds.

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