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McLean County Board supports protecting Mahomet Aquifer amid carbon sequestration controversy

The McLean County board listens to public comment for and against carbon sequestration projects in the area. Representatives of environmental group Illinois People's Action and prospective sequestration company
Colin Hardman
/
WGLT
The McLean County Board listens to public comment for and against carbon sequestration projects in the area. Representatives of the environmental group Illinois People's Action and prospective sequestration company OneEarth Energy were present.

The McLean County Board passed a resolution Thursday supporting state action to protect the Mahomet Aquifer that supplies many Central Illinois communities with drinking water.

As for why the aquifer requires protection, carbon sequestration projects such as those proposed by Navigator CO2 and OneEarth Energy, have raised question of whether drilling operations could contaminate drinking water.

The sequestration projects aim to drill deep underground and deposit CO2 in rock layers, proposed as a measure to mitigate climate change. The procedure has drawn comparison to hydraulic fracturing [fracking], though in this case breaking rock layers is not the objective.

Earlier this year, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure forcing corporations to provide a new water source if water is contaminated with CO2. In addition to water contamination concerns, leaks at sequestration wells and pipelines can flood the area with CO2, and put people living in the area at risk.

At the county board's meeting on Thursday, members of the environmental justice group Illinois People’s Action [IPA] were in attendance, as they have been in earlier discussions related to carbon sequestration projects.

Susan Adams, a board member of the Mahomet Aquifer Consortium, spoke during public comment on Thursday night.
Colin Hardman
/
WGLT
Susan Adams spoke to the board during public comment on Thursday night

Susan Adams attended in association with IPA. A board member of the Mahomet Aquifer Consortium, she stressed the importance of the board’s resolution, using ADM’s recent CO2 leak in Decatur to argue carbon sequestration projects' promises of safety have proved to be flimsy.

After the resolution was approved, Adams said she hopes for better approaches to address greenhouse gas emissions, suggesting the use of methane, a component of natural gas, would be more productive.

“My view has been that if we want to do something [about climate change] quickly, we would do something with methane,” said Adams. “Because it’s shorter-lived in the atmosphere, but it does so much more damage initially than what CO2 does.”

OneEarth Energy is hoping to move forward with carbon sequestration projects in Illinois by meeting standards of new regulations.

CEO Steven Kelly attended the meeting to affirm the company’s commitment to safe operations, saying OneEarth is working with the Illinois EPA to meet any additional requirements.

Illinois has a moratorium on new sequestration projects until July 2026, after which proposals are expected to return in force. Kelly declined to comment after the board meeting.

Connect Transit picks up rural transport

Also Thursday, the board approved a resolution transferring funding and duties associated with rural transit to Connect Transit. The service had previously been provided by Showbus until the board voted itself out of its agreement in June.

With the board action, Connect Transit will receive grant funding that Showbus previously used, starting in the next fiscal year.

Transportation committee chair Jim Rogal said all routes will initiate within the county, but there will be some transit to others, like Champaign. Financially, he said, the system will work similarly, without ridership fees. Rogal said not all the details have been ironed out, and it’s unknown how the provider’s fleet and staff may change.

“We’re just still in the planning stages with them [Connect Transit], and they’re trying to evaluate what the needs will be and where that will have to happen,” Rogal said. The switchover will happen in July of 2025.

In another matter, the board approved two special use authorizations to enable solar power installations on agricultural properties in the county. One is located in Hudson Township and the other is in Bellflower Township.

Colin Hardman is a correspondent at WGLT. He joined the station in 2022.