Resident warns CO2 pipeline risks to aquifer, urges county action

Elton Rokey, a resident and representative of a pipeline opposition group, told the Tazewell County Board that recent federal guidance on carbon dioxide pipeline safety is too weak and that proposed projects pose risks to local groundwater supplies.

Rokey said federal rules recently issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration were largely voluntary and ‘‘full of fluff,’’ and that companies would be left to self-monitor compliance. He said the guidance included a requirement to bury pipeline segments 48 inches below the surface but offered little else in the way of enforceable protections.

The substance of Rokey’s remarks centered on groundwater. ‘‘There are aquifers. Now these aquifers have been designated as sole source water supplies. There's no way they can ever replace them if they get contaminated,’’ he said, adding that ‘‘almost a million people rely on the Muhammad Aquifer.’’ He also raised concerns about chemical changes that can occur when CO2 is mixed with brine, saying the reaction lowers pH and can corrode pipes and cap rock meant to contain injected CO2.

Rokey described federal subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act that raised the tax credit for captured CO2 from about $10 per metric ton to as much as $85 per metric ton, a change he said has made large-scale projects financially viable and increased development pressure. He urged the county to ‘‘put their foot on the ground’’ and consider moratoria or other local measures; he noted that neighboring Champaign County recently adopted a one-year moratorium on certain drilling and well activities.

Board members heard Rokey during the public-comment portion of the meeting; the transcript does not show a formal motion or vote related to his remarks. No county staff response or formal direction to staff appears in the provided transcript segments.