The Marshall County Planning Commission on Aug. 29 voted to recommend that the County Commissioners adopt a zoning ordinance (drafted as Ordinance No. 2025-21) that would prohibit construction and operation of facilities for the compression, liquefaction, transport or underground sequestration of captured carbon dioxide within Marshall County.

Planning staff explained the draft ordinance would amend the county zoning ordinance to list carbon sequestration and related transport as “not permitted” in all zoning districts and to add definitions for terms including “carbon dioxide plume,” “carbon dioxide injection well,” and a storage facility requiring a UIC Class VI permit. Staff said the commission and public had received documentation and examples of carbon sequestration projects with “minor to major failures” and that county leaders want to protect aquifers, farmland and public safety while state and federal guidance on transport and pipelines remains incomplete.

During public discussion, commissioners and attendees asked whether the draft covered pipeline, trucking and rail transport; the body added explicit language to include railroad transport in the draft. One commissioner and multiple attendees raised concern that a county ban could prompt state-level seizure via eminent domain or challenge under state law; speakers cited recent state legislation and past cases from other Indiana counties. Planning staff and the commission attorney said both the planning and commissioners’ attorneys had reviewed the draft; staff said the plan is to post a copy of the draft in the planning office and present it to the County Commissioners at a future meeting (likely the second meeting in September).

The commission approved a motion (as amended to include rail) to forward the ordinance recommendation to the commissioners. Commissioners’ action will determine final county law. Planning staff noted the county is operating under an existing moratorium and is preparing additional ordinance options and implementation language to address transport modalities and potential state interaction.

The draft ordinance references Indiana Code provisions for county zoning authority and notes UIC Class VI permitting requirements for underground storage of carbon dioxide. Planning staff said Marshall County had been identified in prior work as a geologically favorable area for sequestration, though an industry actor (BP) has since halted operations in the area. The commission’s recommendation does not by itself change county code; it is advisory and will be considered by the Marshall County Commissioners.