Companies make case for central Illinois pipeline project in face of stiff opposition

Mike Kramer, Pekin Daily Times
Updated ·3 min read

Even as the number of Tazewell County residents opposing an initiative by Wolf Carbon Solutions, LLC, and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to run a carbon dioxide pipeline through sections of the county grows, company representatives maintain that the project will create jobs and attract new businesses to the area.

“When companies today go to locate a new business, they’re looking for rail, they’re looking for water, they’re looking for electricity, and they’re looking for a labor force,” said Wolf Carbon Solutions vice president of engineering and operation Patrick Brierley during a presentation at a recent Tazewell County Board meeting. “They’re also looking for emission controls. If they produce a lot of CO2, they need to be able to get rid of that CO2.”

Brierley estimated that the pipeline would take the equivalent of 2.2 million passenger vehicles worth of carbon emissions out of the atmosphere. But Elton Rocke of South Pekin believes the pipeline would merely hide emissions rather than eliminating them.

Tazewell County residents turned up early and in numbers to express their opposition to a proposed CO2 pipeline at last week's Tazewell County Board meeting
Tazewell County residents turned up early and in numbers to express their opposition to a proposed CO2 pipeline at last week's Tazewell County Board meeting

More: Residents pack Tazewell County board meeting over proposed CO2 pipeline

“It’s not profiting the people,” Rocke added. “It's profiting the big corporations and the pipeline companies. Does Illinois really want to be known as the pollution dump for carbon?”

After Wolf Carbon Solutions applied with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to construct the pipeline in June, Rocke started the Tazewell County: Stop the CO2 Pipeline Facebook page, which has grown to over 2,300 members.

Additionally, he said, over 500 Tazewell County residents have signed a petition opposing the project.

Matt Gordon, superintendent of Rankin School District in Pekin, noted that the pipeline would pass through district property or just south of Rankin School, and expressed concerns about safety for students and staff in the event of a pipeline rupture.

“This pipeline being located on or near Rankin is not in the best interest of our district," Gordon stated. "We urge our local and state leaders, and the Illinois Commerce Commission to stop this pipeline, which has the potential to be catastrophic to our students and staff.”

The proposed pipeline is part of the Mt. Simon Hub system that would transport captured CO2 from ADM ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton, Iowa to a permanent underground sequestration site in Decatur. The pipeline would pass through parts of Tazewell, Peoria, Henry, Stark, Knox, Logan, DeWitt, Macon and Rock Island counties.

ADM vice president Greg Webb said that over the past decade ADM has sequestered 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and knows how to do so safely. He added that the technology used in the capture and storage of CO2 is proven and safe, and the Mt. Simon Hub system would offer substantial environmental and economic development benefits.

“The state is aspiring to be carbon neutral by 2050,” Webb noted. “We believe this is one of the technologies that will help us (achieve) that goal.”

While acknowledging safety concerns, Brierley said Wolf Carbon Solutions is prepared to adhere to new federal safety regulations expected to come out next year. The Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Materials Administration began drafting the new regulations in 2020 following a pipeline rupture in Satartia, Miss., that led to 40 hospitalizations.

"We already have advance knowledge of what the new material requirements are going to be," Brierley added. "It's going to be stronger pipe that is able to withstand the handling, like nicks and things like that, that the pipe will be stronger."

Tazewell County is an intervener in the pipeline construction application case with the ICC, meaning that the ICC will keep the Tazewell County Board apprised of proceedings regarding the case and will allow the county to actively participate in the process.

The ICC is expected to make a decision on the pipeline construction application next May.

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Companies make case for pipeline project in face of stiff opposition