The Peoria Park District Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a moratorium on considerations, agreements or requests for carbon dioxide pipelines on or near park district property.
The vote came after nearly an hour of presentations from proponents and critics of the pipeline, public comment and questions from the park board to presenters.
The carbon dioxide pipeline, proposed by a partnership of Wolf Carbon Solutions and Archer Daniels Midland Company, would pump captured liquid carbon from ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton, Iowa to a permanent sequestration site deep underground in Decatur. The Mount Simon Hub project is expected to include a trunkline to Peoria’s BioUrja plant, but a representative of Wolf Carbon Solutions indicated this branch would not be part of their initial filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).
Daurice Coaster of Southside Community United for Change opened the 10-minute presentations with a packet of 151 signatures in support of the moratorium. Previous concerns raised about the pipeline have questioned potential impacts on the communities of Peoria’s south side, particularly within the 61605 ZIP code.
“My neighbors and I are working together to help each other thrive. A short list of our current challenges is poverty, drugs, black market activity, homelessness, hunger in our food desert and hopelessness,” Coaster said. “A carbon dioxide pipeline is the very last thing we need in our area. If a problem were to ever arise from it, Peoria does not have the resources to address it.”
Coaster played a video of testimony from a victim of a 2020 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi. That incident is frequently cited by those opposed to the pipelines as evidence of their potential consequences. In the video, a man describes losing consciousness and suffering long-term difficulties: trouble breathing, anxiety attacks and shortness of memory years after the rupture.
Joyce Blumenshine of the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club, and Lan Richart of the Eco-Justice Collaborative also gave presentations in support of the moratorium. Both questioned gaps in and ongoing updates to carbon dioxide pipeline regulations enforced by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
“I want to specify that currently there is no safe distance or accurate model for predicting a CO2 danger area,” Blumenshine said. “And we expect this current, ongoing review done by PHMSA, the federal agency in charge, will not be done for two years.”
With this review in mind, Blumenshine and Richart believe the entire pipeline process is proceeding before adequate rules are in place.
“We believe that projects such as the Wolf ADM pipeline are moving too fast,” said Richart, after showing a video created by a Norwegian industrial testing company demonstrating the spread of a carbon dioxide cloud. “We recommend that you take the time to become fully informed. Make sure that you understand the potential impacts to your community.”
While later answering questions from the board, Wolf Carbon Solutions Director of Government Relations and Land Tracey McDaneld acknowledged PHMSA is working to strengthen existing rules.
“We believe we understand what they’re going to enhance,” she said. “And we will spec our pipeline to that enhancement.”
During her presentation, McDaneld outlined the basics of Wolf Carbon Solutions operations. She said Wolf Carbon is a “life of the asset” company, meaning Wolf will take ownership of operations for the entire lifespan of a pipeline. The presentation provided examples of safety measures, such as remote shut-in valves, measures to avoid corrosion both inside and outside the pipes and training and supplemental resources for first responders.
“There are a lot of things you can do to design your pipe to make it safer,” McDaneld said. “And that is, you know, increasing the pipe wall thickness near environmentally sensitive areas and population centers, utilizing best-in-class leak detection technology.”
McDaneld said Wolf has still yet to file with the ICC for the project, though she expects it in “the coming days.” She explained state regulatory codes prohibit outreach to the public before filing with the commission sending a “14 day letter” to landowners.
“We can’t initiate outreach for negotiations until 14 days after we’ve mailed that certified letter,” McDaneld said. “So I hope that clears up kind of the secretive nature of what people perceive as no contact.”
The presentation also explained to the board that current maps of the route circulating publicly were not representative of the final project. However, McDaneld said she could not give more specifics on the route until after the ICC filing.
“When you see our ICC application, you’re going to see it not entering the boundaries of the City of Peoria,” McDaneld said. “And it doesn’t look like the route that everybody’s seeing publicly.”
Greg Webb with Archer Daniels Midland Company also gave a presentation in support of the company’s proposal. He cited the decade-long operation of a carbon sequestration site in Decatur and Wolf’s operation of a carbon pipeline in Canada as evidence of sound technology.
Public comment followed the presentations. Seven individuals spoke in support of the moratorium. More than a dozen others in the crowd waved yellow signs, encouraging park board members to vote to approve the moratorium.
Many of the public speakers voiced concerns similar to the presentations: issues with safety, regulations, project timelines and effectiveness.
“I think the context here is that, you know, this is a risk we have to take as a city in order to address climate change,” said Peoria resident Nick Firmand. “But most environmentalists, I think, agree that carbon sequestration is actually a false solution to climate change.”
After a few questions from park board member Tim Bertschy about the PHMSA regulations, the proposed route and alternatives to carbon sequestration, the board voted. The resolution passed unanimously.
Board member Alex Sierra clarified afterwards that the resolution puts the moratorium in place at least until new PHMSA regulations are effective. It also encourages the board to work with other government groups to gather more information about the pipelines.
“The way that the resolution is written, it is not a stance in opposition or support of the pipeline,” said Sierra. “It’s in support of collecting more information.”
You can read the full text of the resolution here.
It’s unclear what effect, if any, the moratorium has on Wolf Carbon Solutions and ADM’s ongoing application process. After the meeting, McDaneld told WCBU she couldn’t provide further information outside of the presentation.
Park board president Robert Johnson said his vote came down to wanting more regulations and confidence before having pipelines in the general vicinity of any park district assets.
“I’m confident now. I mean, we did it,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how that’s going to play out. But they know that we’re, you know, we’re concerned.”
Park board member Joyce Harant, who drafted the resolution, said she was pleased with the unanimous support of her colleagues.
“I think the importance of this issue was so well stated by all that spoke,” she said. “And this, just for me, it’s simple. All we’re saying is slow down until we have the best new standards possible.”
Another informational meeting from Wolf Carbon Solutions is expected later this month. McDaneld told WCBU the exact date and location are still being determined.
