CO2 leak and Decatur's inept response
It has been over a month since the USEPA notified Decatur’s mayor that there was a CO2 leak at ADM Co.’s carbon sequestration facility. One month later, the city has still failed to publicly answer basic questions about the leak.
As background, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a Notice of Violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act against Archer-Daniels-Midland Company at one of its carbon dioxide sequestration monitoring wells in Decatur on August 14, 2024 (and on September 19 issued a proposed enforcement action against ADM Co.). Specifically, the USEPA stated that ADM Co. failed to meet its sequestration permit requirements in three ways: 1) ADM’s sequestration activity allowed the movement of fluids (i.e., CO2) into unauthorized places, 2) the company failed to follow its Emergency Response and Remediation Plan required as a condition of the permit, and 3) ADM failed to monitor the well as required in the permit. Thankfully, in this incident there was no reported impact on the city’s drinking water quality.
At the September 16 Decatur City Council meeting, the mayor revealed that they were notified of the leak; however, the mayor did not notify the public, city council, or city staff. Thus, interested parties learned of the CO2 leak from the national and local news media. Around the same time the city was aware of the leak, ADM Co. was approaching private property owners requesting their permission to sequester CO2 under their property. It is fair to say that many private property owners could have made a different decision about whether they would permit sequestration had they known about the CO2 leak. While it could be argued that the city of Decatur is not required to disclose such information, the city did a disservice to its residents by not disclosing pertinent information about an issue in the public’s interest.
TOO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS REMAIN
Given that a month has passed since the leak was reported to the city, staff should already have answers to the following questions and release them to the public: 1) is such a leak possible at ground level, thereby putting public safety at risk?, 2) Has the Decatur Fire Department trained for a CO2 leak such as the one that left dozens hospitalized near Satartia, Mississippi, and does the city have the number of first responders necessary if the leak occurred at a heavily populated event, 3) Does the Decatur Fire Department have all of the apparatus and equipment firefighters need in the event of a leak? 4) How much CO2 leaked and where is the leaked CO2 located?, 5) Is the CO2 under locations ADM Co. did not have permission to store CO2?, 6) To my knowledge, no one from the City of Decatur was notified of the leak until after the USEPA action in August. Why weren’t city employees and the city council notified and does ADM’s Emergency Response and Remediation Plan include contacting the City of Decatur and its water department?, and 7) Should ADM Co. be permitted to continue sequestration in the city of Decatur given the CO2 leak and its alleged violations?
When companies are aware of situations, but do not let interested parties know, there can be negative consequences to partners. The CO2 leak took place months prior to the city reaching a final agreement with ADM that permitted the company to sequester CO2 under Lake Decatur. It is fair to say that knowledge of the CO2 leak when it happened could have influenced the city council’s decision on whether CO2 sequestration was in the city’s best interest and could have influenced terms of the easement agreement. Thus, it continues to be perplexing as to why the former Decatur City Manager, on the day they retired, signed the CO2 sequestration easement agreement with ADM Co. as there was no benefit to the city and its residents to doing so at that time.
WILL CARBON SEQUESTRATION SPUR DEVELOPMENT IN DECATUR?
At its December 18, 2023 meeting, the Decatur City Council approved spending $1.4 million to provide design services for a Brush College Road Lift Station, and if constructed, the lift station being designed would cost taxpayers $20-$25 million. The need for the large lift station is a result of the announced developments along Brush College Rd. (as the initial cost of a smaller lift station reported to the council on February 1, 2021 was $2.9 million). Since the council approved the 2023 design services agreement, LG Chem is no longer building in Decatur, and it is unclear when Innovafeed will begin its significant expansion. In other words, some of the city’s largest economic development opportunities, many of which were described as being attractive in part because of carbon sequestration opportunities, have not come to fruition. Meanwhile, Decatur residents, who live in one of the poorest cities in Illinois with a childhood poverty rate near 30%, could be asked to pay $20-$25 million for a lift station that may not be needed. What’s next, could ADM Co. propose a pipeline to transport CO2 from their facilities in Iowa to Decatur in the name of residents’ economic prosperity? What could possibly go wrong with that?
THE DECATUR CITY COUNCIL AND RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE ACTION
The CO2 leak and the lack of timely reporting calls into question whether the environmental benefits to the planet and the economic benefits to the city of Decatur are worth the risks to the 68,000+ residents and their drinking water supply. If no city employee or elected official was aware of the leak until August, it could be argued that ADM Co. withheld substantive and relevant information during negotiations with the city, and the city council should act quickly to rescind the agreement.
The Decatur City Council should adopt a resolution banning carbon sequestration under its two farmland properties in DeWitt County. The city’s farmland rests over the Mahomet Aquifer and one of the properties has wells that pump water that ultimately reaches Lake Decatur in the event of a severe drought. As evidenced this past March in Decatur, carbon sequestration activities result in leaks, and the best way to ensure the safety of this aquifer is to prohibit activities that can do harm.
Residents can also take action. The USEPA is requesting public comments on its proposed enforcement order against ADM Co. Information about this enforcement order and how to submit a public comment can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/il/adm-geologic-sequestration-well-proposed-order-sdwa-05-2025-0001. Furthermore, residents can contact local and state legislators in support a ban of carbon sequestration in both Macon County and throughout the Mahomet Aquifer.