EPA Proposes Enforcement Order over ADM’s CO2 Leak

September 27, 2024

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by Annie Snider (E&E News) EPA and ADM say the leak was caused by corrosion in one of the site’s monitoring wells, which allowed liquid carbon to migrate from the underground storage reservoir into the rock formation above it. -- EPA on Thursday (September 19, 2024) proposed ordering Archer Daniels Midland to take a series of steps to protect drinking water sources after a leak was discovered at its underground carbon dioxide storage site linked to its ethanol plant in Decatur, Illinois.

POLITICO first reported last week that the company had suffered a leak at the nation’s first carbon injection site, where it stores nearly pure carbon dioxide more than a mile underground. The facility has been seen as an important proof of concept as the Biden administration and congressional Democrats pour billions of dollars of investment and tax incentives into the nascent technology that advocates say is crucial to meeting U.S. climate targets.

In a proposed enforcement order, the agency directed the agriculture giant to take emergency actions to address the liquid carbon dioxide that leaked from the carbon sequestration well and to quickly assess and report on the extent of the damage and any pathways through which it could leak further.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that carbon management projects are designed, built, and operated safely and responsibly, and in a way that reflects the best science and responds to the needs and inputs of local communities,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said in a statement. READ MORE

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Excerpts from Politico Pro: EPA has launched an enforcement action against the country’s first underground carbon sequestration facility after a leak at one of its wells was discovered earlier this year, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

The August 14 notice of violation alleges that agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland violated the permit for its facility in Decatur, Illinois, by allowing liquid carbon to migrate out of the approved storage site and failing to adequately monitor the well and follow its emergency response plan.

The Biden administration has backed carbon capture as a key part of its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030, though the long-term viability of the technology has yet to be proven. More than a dozen projects are operating in the U.S., and most are tied to biofuel production plants. The administration is facing pressure to speed the permitting process for nearly 150 more.

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correction:An earlier version of this report contained incorrect units for the amount of liquid carbon that leaked. READ MORE

Excerpt from IPM News: “That monitoring well was plugged, is not in use, and none of the other wells were impacted,” the company said in a Friday statement. “At no time was there any impact to the surface or groundwater sources or any threat to public health.”

Roughly 8,000 metric tons of liquid carbon dioxide and other ground fluid was leaked. This is equivalent to about three days’ worth of injection, according to (ADM spokesperson Jackie) Anderson.

The leaked carbon dioxide stayed about 5,000 feet below ground, well below groundwater in the area, which is about 200 feet beneath the surface, according to a company document.

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, a group of labor organizations and environmental advocates, were quick to criticize the company on Friday for failing to notify the public of the problem.

“There are significant risks at every step of the CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) process, and it’s not a matter of if carbon sequestration facilities leak, but rather when,” the coalition said in a statement. “Neither ADM nor the USEPA have released any details about the nature of the leak or its impacts on the local community, groundwater, or the environment, and we are anxious to learn more.”

The coalition also characterized the lack of public disclosure as “unacceptable and dangerous.”

Anderson noted that the company reported the situation to the EPA “in accordance with our permit requirements when there is no potential endangerment to an underground source of drinking water, which was the situation here.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro Energywire: Agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland has suspended injection of carbon dioxide at the company’s storage site in Illinois after recent testing showed a possible fluid leak underground.

Chicago-based ADM wrote last week to the head of the water permits branch at EPA’s Region 5, detailing the company's decision to “temporarily” halt CO2 injection at its Class VI well in Decatur, Illinois.

In a letter to the agency, ADM said a recently conducted noise survey at a monitoring well “indicated potential brine [salty water] movement between different formations” at a depth of roughly 5,000 feet.

“Prior to receiving this preliminary data, there had been no indication of this potential condition,” said Todd Davis, a plant manager for ADM, in a Sept. 27 letter. “Given the extreme depth of this anomaly and the multiple layers of shale and other confining rock up to the surface, there is no risk or impact to the surface or groundwater sources or any threat to public health." READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro: A leak at the country’s first commercial carbon dioxide sequestration project was likely caused by corrosion of the steel used in the well, a finding by federal regulators that poses a significant risk to dozens other projects around the country planning to use the same type of metal.

The steel, 13 Chrome, has been used for decades in oil and gas wells, but it appears to be vulnerable to corrosion when exposed to the liquids in carbon sequestration wells. Using an alternate material would likely be more expensive and could delay many of the projects that the agricultural and energy industries are hoping to deploy to access the federal tax credits and address the pollution driving climate change.

Carbon sequestration technology, which typically injects climate-warming carbon dioxide into deep underground saline aquifers, is a nascent technique that the Biden administration has hoped will offer polluting industries a viable path to reducing their impact on the climate. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes billions of dollars in incentives for carbon capture and sequestration as part of its effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions sharply. READ MORE

Excerpt from Chicago Tribune:

Nobody said it would be easy — and we’re disappointed to see just how difficult this pollution-busting effort has become. Not once but twice so far this year, leaks have marred the progress being made at ADM’s carbon-dioxide sequestration wells, and the company stands accused of failing to properly monitor its operations and follow its approved emergency plan.

These issues have contributed to exaggerated fears about suffocating gas bubbling up from deep below, horror-movie-style, or infiltrating the water supply. No one wants to turn on their taps and get hot and cold running club soda, after all.

Based on public statements from the company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the leaks at ADM were contained far underground, posing no threat to the air or drinking water.

The EPA pointed out that nearby public water systems draw on Lake Decatur as their main reservoir or rely on shallow wells less than 110 feet deep. The initial leak occurred about 5,000 feet below ground level, separated from the water supply by layers of rock stacked vertically for almost a mile. The second leak also occurred a mile underground, prompting ADM to temporarily pause its carbon-dioxide injections while it investigated.

The same environmental advocates and landowners who’ve been skeptical of the technology have been making the most of these setbacks at ADM, raising concerns that carbon-capture could have catastrophic consequences.

The Mahomet Aquifer, a formation of sand and porous rocks buried deep beneath East Central Illinois, provides millions of gallons of groundwater each day for homes, farms and commercial uses. It’s considered the sole source of drinking water for Champaign and other Illinois communities that would be in big trouble if it became polluted.

Illinois lawmakers responding to concerns that future carbon-capture projects could threaten the aquifer, among other fears, approved a law in July that imposes additional regulations around every step of the technology.

Before any new projects can proceed, the law requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to run the plans through a “rigorous and transparent assessment process,” which sounds to us like bureaucrat-speak for, “Take a number. This is going to be awhile.” The law also imposed a two-year moratorium on development of the pipelines used to deliver liquid carbon-dioxide to Illinois for sequestration.

The law could have ended up worse. The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, among other business interests, supported the final bill.

Still, there’s nothing like hyped-up fears and a fresh pile of red tape to ensure this technology goes nowhere fast. And now critics have seized on the ADM news to claim the new Illinois law doesn’t go far enough, pushing for more red tape.

Some hard-core environmentalists are eager to ban carbon capture entirely, just as they oppose practically any effort to reduce the impact of carbon emissions short of eliminating fossil fuels — which, as a practical matter, won’t happen for decades.

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If it’s smothered in its crib, the world will never know. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico Pro Energywire: More than 150 environmental and advocacy groups are asking EPA to halt carbon dioxide injections nationwide and stop permitting new wells until regulations are revised.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Tuesday, the groups pressed the agency “to take immediate action to update rules and regulations for CO2 injection wells,” pointing to a leak detected earlier this year at a CO2 injection site in Decatur, Illinois.

Agribusiness company and well operator Archer-Daniels-Midland has said drinking water was not endangered by the leak, which was tied to corrosion in a monitoring well.

Although ADM paused injection last month after company tests pointed to a second suspected leak — this time of salty water — concern about the incident and EPA’s response hasn’t abated.

“The recent events at the ADM facility in Decatur are a warning sign that current regulatory practices are inadequate,” the green groups said in the letter, which was organized by Washington-based Food & Water Watch and the Illinois-based Eco-Justice Collaborative. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Power Switch: Steel a problem: Federal regulators discovered that the leak was probably caused by corrosion of the steel used in the well, write Annie Snider and Ben Lefebvre. The steel, 13 Chrome, has been used for decades in oil and gas wells, but it appears to be vulnerable to corrosion when exposed to the liquids in carbon sequestration wells.

EPA is now requiring companies to either switch to a more corrosion-resistant material — which would likely be more expensive — or justify their use of 13 Chrome with rigorous technical analyses specific to the site — which also isn’t cheap.

It is unclear how many of the pending applications at EPA include the use of 13 Chrome, but industry experts say it is likely a large proportion of them.

Backlash: Carbon capture advocates have been quick to defend the new technology. Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, told Carlos that the fact that the leak was detected and addressed “shows that the regulatory regime over carbon storage is working as intended.”

Stopping injections or suspending permit reviews “would penalize an industry that is complying with federal regulations,” Stolark said. READ MORE