Buffalo Rock State Park is example of new life after mining

Mine reclamation can be a daunting task for homeowners living in places such as Streator, where a majority of the city was mined while it was being settled.

Evidence of the issues mining may leave was recently demonstrated when Streator resident Doug Ramzey discovered a sink hole on his property led to a sewer drop into abandoned mines.

Decades ago, there weren’t regulations on industry to clean up after themselves.

Such was the case at Buffalo Rock State Park, located just west of Ottawa, which was transformed into the Effigy Tumuli trail, featuring massive sculptures created as part of a mine reclamation project in the 1980s.

Artist Michael Heizer was commissioned by Edmund Thornton, the former president of Ottawa Silica, to create an art installation in 1983 on the land abandoned by the Buffalo Rock Coal Company and the Osage Coal Company.

Conservation Education Representative Paul Durdan said the artist fees were covered by Thornton and the Ottawa Silica Foundation while the construction cost was covered by Illinois Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation Council.

“The money from the council wasn’t initially intended to create sculptures,” Durdan said. “The state had a very strict budget, which caused some problems.”

There are five sculptures created in the style of Native American burial mounds depicting common animals: a snake, catfish, turtle, dog and water strider.

Reclaiming damaged land from mine operations can be complicated because the terrain becomes unstable and potentially toxic; Effigy Tumuli overcame those obstacles.

Durdan said the land wasn’t just being prepared for art; the construction workers spread limestone powder over the soil to neutralize their acidity and after that, they used excelsior matting to plant grass native to the region.

Reintroducing naturally occurring plant and animal life onto the former wasteland was just as much a part of the plan as the sculptures were; Durdan said the park is a success story in mine reclamation because the wildlife and vegetation has largely come back.

“It’s completely habitable now,” Durdan said. “There’s no more toxic runoff. It helps that the coal seam wasn’t as rich or as high grade.”

The strip-mine at Buffalo Rock previously is the only strip-mine in the area because below the layer of coal is sandstone.

Heizer was born in Berkeley, Calif., and most of his artwork is still in place in the southwest.

“They are works of art that can be considered works of art but don’t have to be in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum,” he is quoted as saying on a website dedicated to his work, according to a July 2007 The Times Article.

The Times named Effigy Tumuli one of its Seven Wonders of La Salle County in 2007.