MAHOMET AQUIFER, Ill. – In response to a carbon sequestration proposal that threatens the Mahomet Aquifer, grassroots groups in Central Illinois demanded last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hold multiple public hearings to get feedback on the application.
The hearings, required by law, will be an opportunity for people to testify regarding a carbon dioxide injection well drilling permit filed by One Earth Sequestration, LLC based in Gibson City, Illinois. The CO2 injection wells sought by One Earth are proposed to be located in a recharge area of the Mahomet Aquifer near Fisher, Illinois.
The groups – Eco-Justice Collaborative, Illinois People’s Action (IPA), Prairie Group, Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Prairie Rivers Network – sent the letter, which requested meetings in Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana. These are the two largest communities that rely on the Mahomet Aquifer.
The Mahomet Aquifer serves nearly one million people in Central Illinois. It was designated a sole source aquifer by the EPA in 2015, which means that “contamination of the aquifer would create a significant hazard to public health and there are no physically available or economically feasible alternative sources of drinking water to serve the population that relies on the aquifer.”
Julie Prandi, spokesperson for IPA said, “It’s critical the EPA hears from the people who depend on the aquifer for our sole source of water. No corporation should ever be allowed to put our water at risk.”
“The EPA has an obligation to come here and listen to the community about this project, ” said Pam Richart, Co-Director, Eco-Justice Collaborative. “We have a lot of questions. One Earth’s proposed sequestration project could compromise our health and leave us without a viable supply of replacement water, should their stored CO2 leak and contaminate the aquifer with heavy metals that can cause liver, kidney, and intestinal damage, anemia, and cancer.”
“We don’t want corporations dumping waste through our drinking water,” said Andrew Rehn, director of climate policy at Prairie Rivers Network. “Carbon capture and storage is supposed to be a transitional technology, but instead it is propping up fossil fuels and ethanol and has the potential to permanently pollute our drinking water. It’s not worth the risk.”
The process of capturing and storing CO2 is highly controversial, especially in the proximity of Mahomet Aquifer. This unproven technology has the potential to leak, cause earthquakes, mobilize heavy metals in water, and more.
Last week, Governor JB Pritzker signed the SAFE CCS Act to regulate carbon capture and storage in Illinois. The law requires corporations to provide an alternative drinking source if it becomes contaminated from the injection and storage of CO2. But there is one issue that wasn’t addressed in the legislation — sole source aquifers like the Mahomet. The sole-source designation means that there is no reasonably available alternative drinking water source for users of the Mahomet Aquifer. Therefore, no company would be able to provide an alternate source.
Groups contend the sole water source for 1 million residents should not be put at risk, and point to earlier successful efforts in the state protecting the Mahomet from toxic waste. Last fall, the McLean County Board voted to reject a special use permit by One Earth. Specific protection of the aquifer was not included in the recent state legislative bill on CO2 safety.
The EPA indicated hearings will be scheduled at the conclusion of their review, anticipated this fall.
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