A Letter from Knight Hawk Coal, LLC

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Dear Editor:

Comments by certain officials and recent news reports were grossly inaccurate, sensational and incomplete regarding Knight Hawk Coal's request to dispose of fly ash at our Prairie Eagle Mine. The public should know the facts.

It's true that we are considering the storing of ash from two of our Missouri customers. Such a practice is routine, permitted and regulated by the state of Illinois. Ash, when it can't be used for commercial purposes such as ingredients in shingles and cement, or spread on icy roadways for traction, is typically returned to the source mine for proper disposal. It's something done everyday throughout southern Illinois and other parts of the state.

In our case, we have asked to potentially store 46,600 tons of material annually. By law, mine operators are only allowed to accept 33 percent of the total weight in tons of coal produced at site in the form of ash. Our request falls far below this level.

The state has two classifications for fly ash, Coal Combustion Beneficial (CCB) and Coal Combustion Waste (CCW). The former can be used for purposes listed above or returned to mines for storage. CCW, however, includes levels of certain trace elements that exceed state-set thresholds. Therefore, they must be stored in compliance with state regulations.

Redundancy tests on specific sources of ash are used to determine which category it falls under before storage permits are issued by the state. Such tests identified that ash coming from one of our customers showed levels of boron had exceeded thresholds three out of three times and selenium two out of three times thus classifying it as a CCW. Tests on ash for another customer also showed above-threshold levels on several elements.

Because of this, agencies like the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals (IDNR) and the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) are asked to review the request and make recommendations. A courtesy copy is also sent to the local county government board for review and comment.

IDA has already approved the proposal and IEPA has responded by asking that three additional groundwater monitoring wells be established to go along with the six already at the site, as well as with some other minor modifications.

The permit request was also addressed at the Sept. 4 meeting of the Perry County Board at which comments were made that exaggerated the threat to the area's groundwater and left the mistaken impression that Knight Hawk Coal was acting with disregard to public health and safety. As a business owner, resident of the area and one who cares deeply about this region, I strongly take issue with that.

The simple fact is that we are working with the state to ensure that if we do decide to store CCW, safeguards are in place to protect the groundwater. There are other facts that some at the meeting did not consider including:

We are not introducing elements that aren't already contained in the ground. The levels of these elements were the same or less when returned as ash as when it left as coal. The process does not create matter.

Mines are ideal sites to store fly ash as the groundwater around them is already under continual inspection. Our six monitoring wells are checked quarterly. The addition of three more adds to that assurance.

The pits in which the ash would be stored have clay-lined floors and will be covered with at least four feet of clay and topsoil.

Knight Hawk is in the business of mining and selling coal; not ash disposal. We have only made this permit request as a means of better serving two of our customers.

The dedicated people of Knight Hawk Coal have worked hard to create opportunity for this region and rightfully built a reputation of a caring corporate citizen. We live here as well as work here and the best interests of the area are always on our minds. It's troubling that our reputation might be sullied by those who have not presented all the facts or understand the entire issue.

Sincerely,

Steve A. Carter

President

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC