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Jay County building official presses POET on carbon sequestration payments, requests company briefing
Summary
Building & Planning Director John Hemmelgarn raised transparency concerns about POET's carbon sequestration project, saying the company plans to pump roughly 175,000 tons per year and that federal payments of $85/ton amount to about $14 million annually; he urged the county to negotiate $5–$10 per ton to fund emergency services and requested POET appear at a future meeting.
John Hemmelgarn, Jay County Building & Planning director, told commissioners that his office has reviewed aspects of POET's proposed carbon-sequestration work and raised concerns about transparency and community benefit.
Hemmelgarn said POET "plans to pump 175,000 ton of carbon per year, under the surface after selling off the rest for bottling," and noted a federal payment rate of $85 per ton, which he described as "an estimated $14,000,000 a year, for ten years." He said POET had offered farmers about $100 an acre for mineral-rights use. Hemmelgarn urged the county to consider negotiating a per-ton payment in the $5–$10 range to help fund local services such as police and EMS and asked that POET be invited to the next meeting to explain the project in full.
Commissioners voted unanimously to have POET present plans at a future meeting. No company representative spoke during the session, and no final payment or lease terms were set. The request signals county interest in ensuring the project's local fiscal benefit and transparency before any local approvals related to road use or easements move forward.
