Vermilion

The sections of the Vermilion River from Undercut Rock almost all the way down to the Oglesby take out have been closed by the cement plant. There were several accidents on the river over the last few weeks and evidently the cement plant is concerned about liability. Anyone who has ever run this section of the river knows that the cement plant low head dam MUST be run on the right side. There have been several accidents when people have not gotten river right before the dam and have been caught in the waters strong undertow below the dam on the left side. I still don't think they should close the river. If anyone knows anything about the law that would pertain to this, please contact me, as we are just beginning a fight to have the river reopened in time for next spring. So, at this point in time, the river is closed. Anyone attempting to run the river past undercut rock (including Wildcat) is threatened with arrest. We would surely appreciate any backing of our fight to have the river re-opened, as we feel it is a public waterway, even though the cement plant owns some of the land on both sides of the water. Most of the land on the right hand side of the river is owned by the State of Illinois and is a part of Matthesien State Park. I am not sure how the cement plant can close an entire stretch of the river, especially when a portion of the land on one side is owned by the state. If anyone out there knows anything about the laws regarding this, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.