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Presenter warns county against large CO2 sequestration pipelines, citing safety and economic concerns
Summary
A long public presentation to the Sweetwater County commission argued that large-scale CO2 pipelines and sequestration pose safety, environmental and economic risks; commissioners asked technical questions and received documentation of incidents and insurance concerns.
Trent Luce, a private presenter, told the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 6 that large-scale CO2 sequestration projects and pipelines proposed in southwestern Wyoming carry serious safety and community risks. Luce warned that compressed CO2 pipelines operate at very high pressures and described incidents and modeling that, he said, show plume effects with wide "kill zone" potential if a rupture occurs.
"I have said publicly, and I will continue to say it. This is the most dangerous thing that's happened in my lifetime and puts our communities ... at risk," Luce said, urging the commission to consider the project’s safety implications and the incentives that drive pipeline build-out. He also cited the 45Q tax-credit changes in the Inflation Reduction Act and a map produced by a pipeline-safety group showing long-term expansion plans for CO2 pipelines.
Commissioners asked technical and policy questions about mixing CO2 with water, insurance exposures and eminent domain. Public works and legal staff listened and thanked Luce for the overview; Luce supplied follow-up materials and a recorded interview series he said contains expert interviews. Commissioners emphasized that they will consider the presentation among varied viewpoints and regulatory processes and that federal and state reviews remain central to any final decisions.
