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WSP briefed task force on Class VI permitting, storage capacity and CO2 pipeline safety risks
Summary
WSP presented technical background on carbon capture, transport and underground sequestration, emphasizing Louisiana’s storage capacity and Class VI permitting requirements, monitoring obligations, and pipeline safety history that task force members should consider as projects scale.
BATON ROUGE, La. — WSP geologist Don Yazerski (presentation name variants in the record) told the Clean Hydrogen Task Force on Aug. 25 that Louisiana has large underground pore‑space and salt‑cavern capacity but that Class VI sequestration permitting and CO2 pipeline deployment require sustained technical oversight and monitoring.
Yazerski said Louisiana’s sedimentary basins and salt domes provide significant usable storage and that the state already hosts thousands of injection wells of various classes (WSP cited approximately 3,400 existing injection wells statewide, mostly Class II). He explained that Class VI permits — the EPA’s regulatory category for dedicated, long‑term CO2 sequestration — require a substantial geologic record, a technical permit application and ongoing monitoring. Preparing a permit application typically takes six to 18 months, and federal technical review timelines have been lengthy; WSP said primacy (state authority) for Class VI programs can speed timelines when states are prepared to manage the program.
WSP described the engineering and monitoring obligations for long‑term injection: construction of corrosion‑resistant casing and cement in injection wells, repeated subsurface surveillance (seismic surveys, pressure and saturation monitoring) and remediation of any artificial penetrations such as legacy wellbores. The firm emphasized that monitoring wells themselves can introduce risk if they are improperly constructed or corroded — citing a monitoring‑well‑related finding during a Decatur, Ill., project review — and that operators and regulators are changing practice to reduce that risk.
On transport and safety, WSP reviewed lessons from prior incidents involving CO2 pipelines, citing a 2020 landslide‑induced break along a Denbury CO2 line that hospitalized people and a later mechanical incident that prompted shelter‑in‑place orders. Yazerski noted CO2 can displace breathable air when concentrated and called for robust siting, pipeline integrity, and emergency response planning as pipeline miles increase to support sequestration and EOR operations.
Ending: WSP recommended careful up‑front geologic work, robust permitting, monitoring and community planning as Louisiana scales sequestration and CO2 transport; the firm referred task members to additional technical staff for follow‑up questions.
