The first commercial carbon storage plant in the United States is located in Illinois. It leaked. » Yale Climate Connection

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Last week, a row of executives from grain processing giant Archer Daniels Midland watched as 88-year-old Verlyn Rosenberger ascended the stage at a Decatur City Council meeting. Podium. It was the first meeting since she and other members of the central Illinois community learned of a second leak from the ADM carbon dioxide storage tank beneath Lake Decatur, their primary source of drinking water.

“Just because carbon dioxide sequestration can be done doesn't mean it should be done,” the retired elementary school teacher told the city council. “Pipes will eventually leak.”

ADM's facility in central Illinois is the first licensed commercial carbon storage facility in the country and is at the forefront of the booming, multi-billion dollar carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry that is expected to lead to Earth-warming carbon dioxide is permanently stored deep underground.

The emerging technology has become a cornerstone of the government's strategy to cut fossil fuel emissions and meet climate targets. At the same time, the Biden administration’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, has strengthened industrial subsidies and tax credits and set off a CCS gold rush.

North Dakota and Wyoming manage their own carbon storage permitting programs, with more than 10 licensed storage wells. The EPA has issued permits for four carbon sequestration wells in the United States—two each in Illinois and Indiana—but more are on the way. Three proposed pipelines and 22 wells in Illinois are under review by state and federal regulators, and Illinois' geography makes it particularly suitable for CCS. The EPA is reviewing 150 different applications across the country.

However, if a leak occurs in CCS operations, it may pose significant risks to water resources. This is because pressurized carbon dioxide stored underground can escape or push brine in brine reservoirs typically used for permanent storage. Leaks can cause heavy metal contamination and may lower pH levels, all of which can make the water undrinkable. That's where carbon capture's critics fret, who worry that while it solves one problem it creates another.

In September, the public learned of the leak at the ADM Decatur plant following a report by E&E News, which covers energy and environmental issues. Additional testing required by the EPA discovered a second leak later that month. The EPA has determined that these leaks do not pose a threat to water supplies. Still, they expressed concerns about whether more leaks are likely to occur, whether the public has a right to know when leaks occur, and whether CCS technology is indeed a viable climate solution.

Immediately after the Rosenberg meeting, Chicago ADM officials spoke at the Decatur City Council meeting. They tried to ease her worries. “If we didn't believe it was safe, we wouldn't do it at all,” said Greg Webb, ADM's vice president of state government relations.

But ADM kept local and state officials in the dark about the first leak. They discovered the phenomenon in March, five months after corrosion was discovered in the isolation well pipe. However, neither leak was disclosed as the company applied for an easement from the city of Decatur this spring to expand its operations. The company participated in major negotiations between April and May over the SAFE CCS Act, the state's first CCS regulation, and remained tight-lipped about the spill, according to several parties involved.

So when Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed these CCS regulations into law at ADM's Decatur plant in July, his office confirmed that he had no idea a leak was occurring more than 5,000 feet below his seat.

“I believe we are negotiating with ADM in good faith,” state Sen. Laura Fine, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. “When negotiating complex legislation, we expect candor and transparency from all parties to ensure we produce effective legislation.”

It's unclear whether ADM is required by law to report leaks as early as possible. Under the company's permit, state and local officials are only required to be notified in the event of a “major” or “serious” emergency. The EPA would not comment on whether ADM required disclosure, and neither the EPA nor the ADM would confirm whether the two Decatur spills qualified as “minor” emergencies.

An ADM spokesperson said in a statement, “The developments occurred at a depth of approximately 5,000 feet. They do not pose a threat to surface or groundwater or public health. It is for these reasons that no additional notifications have been issued.

That worries Jenny Cassel, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm.

“It's kind of scary,” Cassell said. “Because if the operator actually makes the wrong decision and there's actually a major problem, not only will the local officials not know about it, but the Environmental Protection Agency won't know about it, and that's really problematic.” What happened here.

The Illinois Clean Jobs Alliance applauded the regulatory bill signed earlier this summer, calling ADM's decision not to disclose the March 2024 leak to the public “unacceptable and dangerous.”

David Horn, a city councilman and biology professor at Decatur Millikin University, said the city was caught off guard. “This information is materially relevant and may affect the terms of the easement that is ultimately signed in May 2024,” he said. He added that the delay in disclosure raised questions about the long-term safety of CCS and the capabilities of CCS. question.

ADM did not notify the EPA of the leak until July 31, more than three months after the leak was discovered. The EPA alerted a handful of local and state officials and ordered the company to conduct further testing. They also issued notices of alleged violations, saying carbon dioxide and other liquids were outside “authorized areas” and the company failed to comply with its own monitoring, emergency response and remediation plans.

But the breaches were not made public until September 13, when E&E News first reported the leak.

Two weeks later, ADM notified EPA that a second suspected leak was discovered. Only then did they temporarily stop injecting carbon dioxide into the wells.

Councilor Horn said that wasn't good enough.

“ADM knew about the leak in March, and we didn't become aware of it until September,” Horn said. “In effect, the city of Decatur, its residents and policymakers have been disadvantaged for months.”

Meanwhile, the city of Decatur has contracted with an environmental attorney. They have yet to take any legal action.

Central Illinois is becoming a national hotspot for the emerging CCS industry thanks to the Simon Mountain Sandstone, a deep, salty, porous rock formation particularly suitable for carbon dioxide sequestration. It covers most of Illinois and penetrates into parts of Indiana and Kentucky. It is estimated to store up to 150 billion tons of carbon dioxide, making it the largest reservoir of its kind in the Midwest.

However, there are concerns that pumping CO2 into brine reservoirs near groundwater could push pressurized CO2 and brine toward these resources, creating additional contamination risks. “Salt water is very nasty stuff,” said Dominic Diguilio, a retired geoscientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development. “It contains very high concentrations of salts, heavy metals and sometimes volatile organic compounds and radioactive species such as radium.”

Horn said Illinois plans to build more oil wells and the Decatur spill is a wake-up call not just for the city but for the region. He's particularly concerned about future wells near the Muhammad Aquifer, a major drinking water source in east-central Illinois that sits above the Mount Simon sandstone formation.

Nearly one million people rely on the Muhammed Aquifer for drinking water, according to the Grassland Institute. In 2015, the EPA designated underground reservoirs as “sole water sources,” meaning if groundwater becomes contaminated, there are no viable alternatives for drinking water. When it comes to the Muhammed Aquifer, “if there's a mistake, there's no room for error,” Horn said.

Given the boom in CCS, rural Illinois counties are stepping up to protect themselves from future carbon leaks, said Andrew Renh, climate policy director for the Prairie Rivers Network, a Champaign-based environmental group.

DeWitt County, a half-hour north of Decatur, passed a carbon sequestration ban last year. West of Decatur, Sangamon County previously expanded an existing ban on underground carbon dioxide transportation or storage. Just last week, Champaign County, just east of Decatur, proposed an ordinance considering a 12-month moratorium on CCS.

Wren said his group would like to see such a ban implemented in all 14 counties that overlap with the Muhammad Aquifer.

In the meantime, he wants state lawmakers to finish the work Illinois counties have started. Two companion bills introduced earlier this year would fill the regulatory void left by the CCS bill that Pritzker signed into law this summer. The bill would outright ban carbon sequestration in and around the Muhammed Aquifer.

“My community and many surrounding areas rely on the Muhammad Aquifer to provide clean drinking water, support our agriculture and keep industry operating,” bill sponsor state Sen. Paul Farage, a Democrat, said in a statement express. “Protecting the health and livelihoods of residents and industries that rely on aquifers remains our top priority.

Rosenberg helps her husband, Paul Rosenberg, put on his coat during a recess of the Decatur City Council meeting last week. A row of ADM officials walked behind her and then wandered around the chamber. “I'm not afraid of them,” Rosenberg said as she pushed her husband out.

“We haven't changed anything yet,” Rosenberg said. “But I thought maybe we could.”

This article was originally published by Grist as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism partnership to enhance coverage of climate stories.