Residents and local experts urge moratorium on POET carbon-capture project in Alexandria

Denise Spooner, a licensed real-estate broker and former member of county zoning bodies, told the council she was asked to serve on a subcommittee that helped draft the county's data-center ordinance and that POET plans to inject "350,000 tons of CO2 every year for 12 years, totaling 4,300,000," while noting that "at POET's meeting, they told us the amount was actually 400,000 tons." She gave the council a multi-tab packet with maps, DNR slides and legal summaries and asked for a moratorium while local ordinances and oversight are developed.

Spooner said Indiana DNR maps show a fault line through Madison County and that the project’s "area of review" raised questions about who would be affected. She asked the council to consult the county attorney and enact a moratorium on carbon-capture projects pending a fuller local review and intergovernmental coordination. "Please talk to your county attorney," she told the council, and offered to meet individually with members to provide her materials for review.

Other members of the public echoed Spooner. A longtime resident said they attended to learn information rather than advocate, while another speaker warned that injecting high-pressure CO2 could "ruin their own wells" and stressed that neither POET nor project partners had provided clear figures for water use. Frank Stapleton, speaking for himself and a co-speaker, said they live just outside city limits and have two water wells and urged the council to "work with the county to enact a moratorium on CCS."