Montgomery County residents and landowners in the pathway of the carbon dioxide pipeline and sequestration sites should support the following legislation, SB2421/HB3119. This bill establishes protections for human health and existing property owners through the life cycle of CCUS along the 292-mile Illinois pathway.
Some of the pipeline protections include: 1. Ensure pipelines are not dangerously located closer than 1 mile to residences and businesses and 1.5 miles from high-density housing, schools, daycares, healthcare facilities, and sensitive sites. 2. Prohibit the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipeline construction. 3. Require a geohazard analysis to improve safety measures for these hazardous pipelines. 4. Require public meetings with county boards in each county the pipeline will pass through.
Protections in the bill for storge sites include: 1. Clarifies that title to pore space belongs to the owner of surface land and prohibits the forced acquisition of pore space (similar to eminent domain). 2. Provides that sequestration operators, not landowners, are liable for any releases of stored CO2 and requires operators to set aside funds to plug wells and address emergencies. 3. Create a permitting process for the sequestration site that shows no adverse impact on water quality and no more CO2 generated than stored. 4. Operators remain responsible for post-injection care, monitoring, and reporting for at least 100 years.
Please contact your Illinois Senator and Representative and encourage their support of this critical bill.
Mary Ellen DeClue
Litchfield, IL