Zoning committee approves continued moratorium carbon dioxide pipelines
The Sangamon County Zoning and Land Use Committee endorsed an extended moratorium on the construction of carbon dioxide projects in the county during a Thursday evening meeting.
The committee made the decision following a closed doors session and would recommend the state's attorney to draft a resolution that would then be voted on by the county board. The moratorium, first adopted in October, would be extended until Dec. 31, 2023.
Multiple companies have crafted development agreements to construct pipelines in the county, which were tabled during the meeting. The agreements with Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC and HG Carbon Storage LLC could net the county an amount exceeding $1.5 million a year and $47.4 million over the course of 30 annual payments. Navigator has offered $20,000 per mile of pipeline constructed and developed in Sangamon, while HG Carbon Storage would provide up to $200,000 for each injection well in the county.
Regardless of what the county stands to gain financially, opponents voiced their safety concerns during a public comment session at the end of the meeting.
Thanking the committee for the moratorium, where counties such as Christian, Fulton, and Montgomery among others have also issued similar orders, Kathleen Campbell of Glenarm pushed the county to move to full opposition to Navigator's petition to build a portion of its 1,300 mile pipeline in the state.
"These citizens can't offer you millions of dollars, but we who live in Sangamon County invest more here than Navigator ever could," Campbell said before a nearly full county board chamber. "We invest our lives, our families, our homes, our volunteer work and our careers. The money we earn, we spend here rather than siphoning it off out of state."
Committee chair Greg Stumpf has maintained more of a neutral position on the matter.
"When it comes time for us to implement a decision, one way or another, I want all sides to know that they have had their say, we all heard them," he said after the meeting.
The pipeline from Navigator, an Omaha-based company, spans five states and 14 counties in Illinois. The company filed a new application with the Illinois Commerce Commission in February after withdrawing an earlier one, who will now review it and make a decision in January or February 2024.
Recent: What to know about Navigator's new, expanded C02 pipeline application
Danielle Anderson presented for Navigator in a county board meeting earlier this month, detailing the scope of the project. The pipelines will take captured liquified carbon dioxide emissions from 30-plus ethanol facilities and take them to sequestration sites, where now two central Illinois sites in Montgomery and Christian are included in its map.
The need for the project, Anderson said, is partially to allow industries that produce ethanol-blended gasoline to meet carbon intensity scores of states such as California, thus allowing them to sell their product.
Still, some public concern exists following a pipeline burst in Satartia, Mississippi. Anderson noted multiple failures by the company - Denbury Gulf Coast Pipelines of Plano, Texas - during the April 7 board meeting when asked on the incident that caused 200 people to evacuate and 45 to seek medical attention.
Navigator has maintained that it has worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to ensure safety. PMHSA has been working on updating standards since Satartia, which Navigator has vowed it will adhere to any new policies.
The promise, however, was not sufficient to some county board members. Several townships in the county have also drafted resolutions
"My community does not want your company in our area," said Craig Hall, 7th District county board member. "They have signs in their yards saying 'we don't want you' and you're still coming."
The new proposal includes more than 291 miles of pipeline - approximately 40 miles in Sangamon - and adds Montgomery County to the mix through what is called the "Montgomery Lateral." The lateral pipeline diverts from the main line in southern Sangamon and travels 42 miles to the new proposed sequestration site in Montgomery.
Legislation is also being pushed in the Illinois General Assembly that its advocates say will protect the state from any liability and prevent the use of eminent domain. House Bill 3119 has received bipartisan co-sponsorship and will be discussed Monday during a joint House committee subject matter hearing.
The bill from state Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, would create the Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Protections Act and require any company or individual wishing to construct a CO2 pipeline to pay an additional fee to the state. They would also have to provide training to local governments and residents in case of a pipeline burst.
Asked whether they would support the use of eminent domain in the matter, Anderson said the policy would be used if every option had been exhausted and was "not a good business decision."
Several changes were made to the committee's meeting schedule to allow opponents and proponents of the pipeline more time to provide comments. Wednesday, May 24 will be the deadline to submit new information to the committee before it would submit that data to the ICC by June 15. Another meeting will be held in July.
Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.com
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Zoning committee pushes new moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines
