DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The EPA says ADM has violated its Class VI underground injection well facility permit by not complying with Federal regulations and the terms of its permit. The agency says it is investigating a carbon dioxide leak.
ADM takes CO2 produced at its facilities, compresses it into a liquid, and injects it around a mile underground so it is not released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. This process is called carbon sequestration, or carbon capture storage (CCS).
The EPA said in a statement that it is working with ADM to ensure there are no additional leaks. However, agency officials do not believe any drinking water is threatened right now.
"On August 14, 2024, EPA issued a notice of violation to Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. related to the company’s Class VI underground injection well facility in Decatur, Illinois. EPA alleges that ADM failed to comply with federal regulations and the terms and conditions of its permit. Because this is an active enforcement matter, EPA will not be able to provide more information about the notice of violation at this time.
"The NOV has been shared upon request. It isn’t the Region’s usual practice to publicize notices of alleged violations. Notices of alleged violations are issued to a respondent as a first step in the enforcement process with a respondent. In this instance, the Region notified federal elected officials and state and local agencies.
"EPA is working with ADM to gather more information and to ensure that issues identified in the notice are addressed as quickly as possible. EPA has stringent requirements for construction, operation, monitoring and reporting of such injection wells to ensure underground sources of drinking water are not endangered. At present, EPA doesn't have any information to suggest there is a threat to drinking water in nearby communities."
State Senator Chapin Rose also released a statement in response to the leak. He has previously been critical of CCS projects.
He said, “This is exactly what I was sounding the alarm about back in May when Democrats were ramming through their supposedly ‘green’ Carbon Sequestration bill. This is exactly why that bill should not have passed, why Governor Pritzker should never have signed that bill. Because it leaves the Mahomet Aquifer exposed to this exact danger. And this is why my legislation, Senate Bill 3963, which would protect the aquifer from CO2 injection, needs to be passed immediately.”
ADM officials said in a statement to WAND News that the monitoring well had corrosion. This well pulls carbon dioxide up from the injection site to the surface for testing. They say it escaped from the corroded area of the monitoring well into an unauthorized area. ADM officials say the monitoring well is capped, and they are working to fix the issue.
"As a leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS), ADM continues to be a pioneer in the industry and has successfully and safely operated CCS wells in Decatur for more than a decade. We are also playing a critical role in the advancement and evolution of this technology, utilizing the input and guidance of numerous third-party experts, including the U.S. EPA. Decatur is the home to ADM’s North American headquarters, where more than 4,000 of our colleagues live and work. We take very seriously our responsibility to operate this technology safely, capture our learnings along the way, and make adjustments as needed.
Our CCS operation has extensive monitoring in place to ensure that we promptly detect, address, and learn from any developments. We detected some corrosion in a section of one of two deep monitoring wells at approximately 5,000 feet and below. That monitoring well was plugged, is not in use, and none of the other wells were impacted. At no time was there any impact to the surface or groundwater sources or any threat to public health. We reported this development to U.S. EPA and are committed to working closely with U.S. EPA on this issue.
We continue to be confident in the safety, security and effectiveness of CCS as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology and its potential to bring new industries and economic opportunities to the entire state of Illinois."
WAND News is working to learn more and will update this story with the latest information.
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