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State regulator says carbon dioxide sequestration not allowed in salt caverns; Iberia Parish committee debates local moratorium
Summary
A Louisiana Department of Natural Resources representative told the Iberia Parish Council that Class VI carbon sequestration in salt caverns is prohibited and announced a Sept. 15 public hearing on Jefferson Island storage permit applications; council members debated a one-year local moratorium but removed the item after legal concerns about state preemption.
Patrick Courreg, a representative of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, told the Iberia Parish Council on Aug. 27 that permit applications for Jefferson Island Storage and Hub, LLC (permit numbers 26048, 26049, 45124 and 45125) will be considered at a public hearing on Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Delcom Shrimp Festival Building in Delcom.
Courreg described the state permitting and monitoring process for subsurface hydrocarbon storage and stressed operational safeguards: operators must continuously monitor pressure, run mechanical-integrity tests periodically and empty caverns for sonar inspections every 15 years. He said the state does not allow Class VI carbon-sequestration projects in salt caverns and told the council, “it flat out…you can't do it in salt caverns. We don't allow it.”
After the presentation, council members voiced residents’ concerns that paperwork and notices had been dropped at the parish office without clear advance communication. Several members urged better outreach before the Sept. 15 hearing so residents can prepare public comments.
The parish’s Public Health & Safety Committee later took up a separate but related item: Councilman James Trahan proposed a one-year moratorium on the development, establishment or construction of carbon capture and storage infrastructure in unincorporated Iberia Parish while the council studies the issue. Committee discussion focused on the limits of parish authority. Multiple speakers, including a department representative and an outside counsel summary, said Louisiana’s statutory framework gives the state primary permitting authority and that local moratoria have been legally challenged in other parishes. One committee speaker summarized that, because of state preemption, the parish cannot block drilling permits and that a moratorium could invite legal challenges.
Given those legal constraints, the committee voted to delete the moratorium item from its agenda and directed staff to research options — including preparing a nonbinding resolution for the parish’s legislative delegation or reintroducing a moratorium only if legal review identifies a defensible local authority. The Department of Natural Resources reiterated that the announced Sept. 15 public hearing is the scheduled forum for public input on the Jefferson Island permit applications.
What happens next: the Department of Natural Resources will hold the Sept. 15 public hearing; the parish committee asked legal staff to report on possible actions and communication steps the council could take short of changing state law.
