Reps. Ugaste, McCombie, and Hammond Tour Viper Mine

Earlier this week, Leader McCombie, Leader Hammond and I visited the Viper mine in Elkhart. We were able to go 300 feet underground and traveled five miles to where the mining is being done. It was fascinating to see the mining technology employed, including safety technology that disables machinery when a person gets too close.

Illinois has 15% of our nation’s recoverable coal reserves. Despite this, we also learned about the increasing economic difficulties Illinois Coal mines are facing.