SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — A proposal to exempt the Mahomet Aquifer from carbon sequestration projects is picking up steam in the Capitol.
“We play with the hand we’re dealt with, and this is what we’re doing now,” Annette McMichael, a Hopedale resident and boardmember for Illinois’ People’s Action said.
Illinois Peoples Action led a group of advocates in the Capitol Wednesday. They were trying to drum up support for the bill sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans.
“What we’re looking for right now is more co-sponsors and seeing if we can get this moved along quickly,” McMichael said. “It’s really more of an amendment to the current bill to make sure that we protect our only water source in central Illinois.”
There are currently several iterations of the same bill, but they all seek to accomplish the same goal. Representative Carol Ammons recently added over 20 cosponsors to her version — HB 3614.
“Our risk level is zero on this bill, and that’s why we are working on this session to make sure we can be clear about that and protect the aquifer,”
Illinois lawmakers passed first of it’s kind regulations on CO2 sequestration projects last Spring, and they put a pause on carbon dioxide pipelines for the time being while they wait for more federal regulations to kick in. That law did not, however, include an exemption for the sole source aquifer that provides water to most of the western part of the state.
During the debate over the initial regulations, central Illinois lawmakers shared concerns about the aquifer, but the bill still passed. Governor JB Pritzker later signed the law while standing on top of what was then touted as a premiere use of the technology at the ADM facility in Decatur.
It was only several months later that an EPA report found that the ADM carbon sequestration site was leaking.
That news led to a quick push from area lawmakers to protect the aquifer. There are no current proposals to build a sequestration site under the aquifer, but that does not mean they are far off.
Illinois’ unique geological formations make it a prime location for storing the excess carbon emissions from companies, factories and anybody else looking for a short cut to meeting emissions standards. There have been a number of projects proposed across central Illinois over the past couple of years, but none — barring one project in Ford County — have gotten any footing due to massive public pushback.
There is still a long way to go for these bills to actually become law. The sponsors of the bill are running up against strong private sector interests in these projects, and there is an incentive for labor if the projects move forward. An attempt to pass the bill in the November veto session failed when Senate President Don Harmon said it was a good starting point for continuing conversations, but ultimately did not call it for a vote.