Local Stretch Of Vermilion Officially Back Open

DNR Director Marc Miller gave the official thumbs Saturday morning to open up to public recreation a nearly three mile stretch of the Vermilion River in Oglesby.  Miller called the agreement with Buzzi Unicem to get the river back open “innovative and unprecedented”.

The state spent around 200 thousand dollars on safety repairs especially in the area of a low head dam where Buzzi ran into liability issues after rafters died.  There is still a 180 foot buffer upstream from the dam and 45 feet downstream from the dam where it’s considered trespassing.

Today’s reopening ceremony was held at Vermillion River Rafting, a business hit hard by the closure.  Owner Bob Herbst thanked Miller and State Representative Frank Mautino for spearheading the deal and promised to be as good a neighbor as he can be.