Mahomet Aquifer concerns dominate House floor discussion on carbon capture bill

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — Vermilion County Republican Representative Brandun Schweizer rose on the House floor Saturday afternoon to speak against a bill regulating carbon capture projects in Illinois.

The bill, which was the result of years of negotiations between industry leaders, environmentalists, farmers and labor, covers a lot of ground.

It puts first-of-its-kind state regulations in place on carbon capture projects, which stretch from the moment the carbon is captured, to when it’s stored in the ground, and all of the upkeep required afterwards to make sure the carbon dioxide remains safely stored. The bill contains a list of landowner protections, including thresholds of property-owner approval that must be met to move forward with projects. In addition, it puts a two-year ban on carbon dioxide pipeline projects while the state waits for new federal guidelines to come down.

But Schweizer didn’t ask about those; instead, he asked only about why the Mahomet Aquifer, and all of the porous ground underneath it, was not excluded from being a potential build site for pipelines.

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“Why could we not get a restriction on the Mahomet Aquifer?” Schweizer said. “The Mahomet Aquifer supplies water to over 800,000. Illinoisans, there are different caucuses in this chamber that always argue, what does this do for the Black and Brown communities? What does this do for the Latin communities? What does it do for the Asian communities? Well, this is their water.”

The Mahomet Aquifer supplies drinking water to a large portion of Central Illinois, and it, along with other aquifers in the area, are often brought up as arguments against the projects. The fear, which Schweizer echoed on the floor, is that carbon dioxide would leak from its pockets deep into the earth and infect the water supply.

Bill sponsor Rep. Ann Williams also sponsored the state’s revolutionary climate and Equitable Jobs Act. That set the state on a mission to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

She said that while the Mahomet Aquifer was not directly excluded from the law, it was adequately protected by a long list of regulations within the law.

“The (Mahomet Aquifer) was a very motivating concern with passing regulations on this bill,” Williams said. “What we’ve done here, for wherever the wells are drilled, including the aquifer is under the state permit, you’re required to demonstrate the safety and the appropriateness of the demographics and the topography and all the technical terms that go into determining if it’s a safe place to drill. In addition, there’ll be ongoing monitoring, which doesn’t just start at the top and be where the carbon is sequestered is throughout the process.”

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The bill requires that any well site be monitored throughout the entire process, from injection to storage. There are no current Carbon storage wells under the Mahomet Aquifer, but if one is ever approved, the bill requires the EPA to consistently monitor the site from the beginning of the construction to well beyond the life span for the well. The EPA is also required to monitor the site for 30 years after injection stops. After that three decade period, the EPA will conduct a risk assessment of the land to see if monitoring should continue.

The bill also allocates money to first responders in the area to make sure they have the proper equipment needed to deal with any problems. If there is some sort of emergency, the bill puts liability on the company maintaining the well site, and not the state.

Williams also pointed to studies published by the University of Illinois Prairie Research Institute, saying the Carbon Sequestration process was safe. That report on its own has not been enough to quell public safety concerns in the past; but Williams and environmental groups like The Sierra Club are in agreement that this bill is a good compromise that addresses environmental concerns.

“We’ve really tried to listen to those who are most impacted and most threatened whether it’s landowners who are worried farmers who are worried about pipelines going through their property or carbon being buried under it, or folks in the environmental justice community who are concerned about more air pollution,” said Jack Darin, Director of the Illinois Sierra Club Chapter.

Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) has been a strong advocate for business interests during the negotiations. He argued on the floor that ignoring the protections in the legislation would be the same as “throwing the science out the window.”

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“Illinois has no regulations regarding this now. None. Zero. Zip. None,” Hoffman said. “We are regulating it and that is why the governor, industry, labor, the environmental groups, as well as the Senate caucus and the House caucus, Republicans and Democrats support this bill. We can sit here and not really look at the science and say the sky is falling. Unfortunately, the sky is falling if we don’t regulate.”

Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) voiced plenty of concerns about the impact these projects could have on the aquifer during negotiations, according to Williams. On the floor, Ammons repeated a lot of the questions she had, saying people in the region should feel comfortable that there were enough protections in the bill. She also said the two-year moratorium gives time for more safety regulations to be put in place around the aquifer.

“With the federal government rule-making process in place, we will watch this over the next two years to see if there are additional protections that we need to make specifically for the Mahomet Aquifer,” Ammons said.

Multiple other Republican lawmakers spoke against the bill, and many voiced concerns about the aquifer. Southern Illinois Republican Representative Chris Miller took the opportunity to question the need for reducing emissions, and in the same breath deny the existence of climate change.

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“There is a myth about climate change about a climate crisis. We aren’t having a climate crisis. But what we are having is a crisis of common sense,” Miller said.

Carbon sequestration project proposals are now commonplace in Central and Southern Illinois. The state’s unique geology makes it a prime location for storing carbon emissions underground. Companies like ADM have been storing carbon emissions underground for years on their own property, but with an influx of clean energy policies passing across the country, more companies are eyeing carbon capture as a way to quickly lower emissions and meet strict energy standards like those in Illinois.

Finite federal tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act put a ticking clock on these negotiations. The financial resources could speed the projects up immensely, which could help the state reach it’s goals faster.

“There are federal tax credits out there that are available, but there are only so many of them,” Mark Denzler, the President and CEO of The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association said in an interview Friday.

The bill still passed the House 78-29. Eight Republicans voted in favor of the bill. It now heads to the Senate.

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