Leak at ADM Decatur facility demonstrates problems with CCS technology
Governor Pritzker signed the CCS Protections Act into law on July 18, 2024. Just one month later, the U.S. EPA issued a violation notice to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the operator of the country’s first sequestration project permitted by the U.S. EPA, alleging that the company hasn’t complied with its federal permit.
According to E&E News, who first broke the story on September 13, ADM detected some corrosion in a section of one of two deep monitoring wells in March, months before the EPA inspection. The corrosion occurred approximately 5,000 feet or so below the surface. As reported by E&E News, approximately 8,000 metric tons of CO2 leaked because the corroded well allowed injection and formation fluids to migrate into an unauthorized area.
While a relatively small leak, the 8,000 metric tons of CO2 that escaped containment represents over 2% of the annual metric tons captured and sequestered by ADM over the past 13 years.
ADM began sequestering CO2 in Decatur in 2011, and injected 1 MMT CO2 over a three year period. It’s second “commercial scale” project came on line in 2017. It has captured an additional 3.5 MMT CO2. The fact that one of the two monitoring wells associated with that project corroded in less than seven years is alarming.
ADM has received more than $281 million in federal funding for carbon capture and storage projects since 2009, in addition to tens of millions of dollars in tax credits.
This incident demonstrates what Eco-Justice Collaborative has been saying all along - it’s not whether, these projects will leak, but when. ADM’s leak is a stark reminder that carbon capture is not the climate solution it’s sold as, but a dangerous gamble with our drinking water.
Protecting the Mahomet Aquifer
The U.S. EPA is reviewing seven carbon sequestration projects across Central Illinois, and hearings are expected to begin in February or March of 2025. Three would inject carbon through the Mahomet Aquifer and store it underground, potentially exposing the water supply to contamination from harmful heavy metals that can cause cancer, liver damage, and anemia. The EPA’s designation of the aquifer as sole source means in 2015, means contamination would create a significant public health hazard with no feasible alternative drinking water source available to the region.
For this reason, Eco-Justice Collaborative is partnering with Prairie Rivers Network and other organizations to push for a Mahomet Aquifer sequestration ban.
“The proposals for storing CO2 under the Mahomet Aquifer and its recharge areas now under review by the U.S. EPA are over 50 times that already sequestered by ADM, and this could be just the beginning,” Richart said. “The Mahomet Aquifer, which sustains nearly a million people in Central Illinois, cannot afford to be put at risk by experimental technologies like carbon capture and storage. ”
Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) and Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) introduced legislation the week of September 9 that “would prohibit carbon sequestration activity over, under or through a sole-source aquifer.” The bills could be considered during the November veto session.
“We applaud Senator Faraci, Representative Ammons, Senator Rose and Representative Schweizer for taking action to protect the Mahomet Aquifer. This incident demonstrates why a ban is the only way we can be certain that the Mahomet Aquifer will be protected,” said Andrew Rehn, Director of Climate Policy at Prairie Rivers Network. “We need clean water forever, and to do that, we must take action now to protect the Mahomet Aquifer before it’s too late.”
The well now is plugged, but this event underscores why the public doesn't trust private corporations investing in this technology, and why injection and storage of CO2 must be kept away from ALL major drinking water supplies, including the Mahomet Aquifer.
