SANGAMON CO. (WAND) — Sangamon County is putting the brakes on a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would run through farms and neighborhoods in the county. Heartland Greenway has proposed its Navigator Pipeline to transport CO2 from ethanol and fertilizer plants—from across the Midwest—and inject it underground in Sangamon and Montgomery Counties.
"We are opposing any legislation by the state of Illinois or the federal government to approve pipelines coming through our county, until all these things are answered," Greg Stumpf, Sangamon County Board member for District 16, told WAND News.
"We're not saying no. But we're saying no for now," Stumpf explained.
Board members said they still have serious questions about what the Navigator CO2 Pipeline means for roads, property value and safety.
"We want to know everything about this process and we want to make sure it's safe, that's the main thing," Stumpf added.
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Staff with Heartland Greenway said they are ready to answer those questions and make their case to county leaders.
"We're talking to a lot of landowners on a one-on-one basis in their kitchens, we're talking to county board members at meetings like this, it's going to take time," James Prescott, with Heartland Greenway, told WAND News.
Prescott said while he understands resident concerns, there have been zero fatalities linked to CO2 pipeline accidents. He said Navigator is prepared to add any needed safety precautions.
"This isn't the wild west when it comes to pipelines. There's a lot of issues and concerns, there's a lot of interest in what the federal government will do as far as regulations. Whatever regulations are there now, this project will comply with them. Whatever regulations the federal government comes out with, whenever they come out with it, this project will comply with them," Prescott added.
FILE - Corn grows in front of an ethanol refinery on July 22, 2021, in Chancellor, S.D. Opponents of planned liquid carbon dioxide pipelines in the Midwest won a victory Wednesday, May 3, 2023, when an Iowa judge ruled that a state law that gives surveyors the right to enter private property is unconstitutional. Pipeline company Navigator CO2 Ventures's planned pipeline would cut through five states — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota — and carry carbon dioxide from ethanol and fertilizer processors to a site in Illinois. (AP Photo/Stephen Groves, File)
Sangamon County has filed a Motion to Intervene with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) in order to have a voice in the approval process. The ICC is expected to rule on the project in early 2024.
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