This is an all out call to action - - public action-- to stop the experimental injection of one million tons of CO2 at the Andersons Marathon Ethanol Plant Site in Greenville’s Industrial Park. If it isn’t stopped now--later could be too late.
Be involved by becoming informed. Join other concerned citizens at a Citizens Action Meeting on Monday, June 29, 7:00 p.m., at the Lighthouse Christian Center All Season’s Place on Sebring-Warner Road in Greenville. Any one who wants this project stopped is urged to attend. The public is invited.
Kicking off the meeting will be Kathleen Boutis, President of the Green Coalition of Western Ohio, and Kerwin Olson, Project Director and Lobbyist for Citizens Action of Indiana. As they step up to the podium, they will share their expertise and experience at conducting nonviolent campaigns against companies that do not have a community’s or a county’s best interests at heart.
In addition, a surprise speaker will be introduced at the meeting. This person, who has an extensive legal background, and who is well known and highly respected in the area, will inform those in attendance about the legal problems involved with the CO2 sequestration process, and how it will impact property values, property damages, and other issues that could pose liability risks for area officials and residents.
“Attending this meeting can make a difference,” said Paula Schwanitz, a Citizens Action member. The Battelle-led Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, who is responsible for this proposed experiment, has indicated that public acceptance is important if this project is to continue. “It is not a done deal,” as so many think,” she said, adding, “However, public silence is being interpreted as public acceptance - - acceptance which will give them the go ahead, if we do not let them know how we feel.” By attending this meeting, she said, we can let our numbers demonstrate that there are people in this area, who are against this experimental project.
Since August, when Battelle first introduced plans to dispose of one million tons of CO2 by sequestering it 3,500 feet below the earth’s surface into the Mount Simon Sandstone Reservoir, there has been controversy regarding the project but no action to stop it - - that is until now. Joan Klein, retired school teacher and a Citizens Action member, said the reason is possibly because people think they can’t stop a project that is being funded with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Klein, who, has been talking to state legislators, said, “It can be stopped. It is simply a matter of getting the attention of the right people - - the people who are in power.”
Boutis said small citizens’ action groups have power, too, but only if they are willing to stand up and speak out for what they believe. These are the people who are not afraid to voice their convictions. Too often, she said, people hesitate to act because they are afraid they will lose their jobs, their political offices or their reputations. In the end, they lose much more - - such as clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe or a clean and safe environment.
Olson warns that uninformed citizens can become unsuspecting victims, falling prey to powerful companies with big pockets and bigger promises. By targeting areas that have a low percentage of college graduates and a high percentage of unemployment, these companies will promise the moon - - only to benefit themselves at the expense of others, who are less fortunate. With promises of jobs, shares in carbon cap and trade schemes or the chance to save the world from climate change, these companies will appeal to public desperation, greed, and pride in order to gain support. Mostly, he said, they count on ignorance and apathy to win out in the end.
From trees and plants to the corn needed to produce ethanol, CO2, is beneficial in its natural environment. Without it, life could not be sustained. However, it can become dangerous, even deadly, when it is condensed and injected, under pressure, through the bottom of a freshwater aquifer into rock formations deep beneath the Earth’s surface. Not only does it have the potential to pollute the area’s major water supply, but it can cause subsurface rocks to slip, resulting in an injection-induced earthquake. At several presentations that he has given throughout the city of Greenville, Dave Ball, manager of the project, said an injection-induced earthquake could happen whether a fault exists or not.
What he doesn’t say, however, is that the real danger occurs when it is condensed under pressure into its Super Critical Phase, which is how it will be injected at the ethanol plant site. During this phase, both Ball and Judith Bradbury, Battelle’s Public Outreach Coordinator, say it remains a gas but can be poured the same as a liquid. Neither Ball nor Bradbury speak of its dangers. In fact, in the Wednesday, June 17, 2009, issue of the Daily Advocate, when Bradbury referred to the classification for the injection of CO2, she said, “ - - carbon dioxide (CO2) is not toxic or hazardous.” While this might be true of CO2 in its natural state, it is certainly not true of CO2 in its condensed and Super Critical Phase, where one Michigan geological report indicated it could possibly be condensed at 100 times its surface pressure to occupy at least 300 times less space.
Gary A. Aurand of the University of Iowa’s Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering describes this Supercritical Phase in much stronger terms than both Ball and Bradbury. According to Aurand, it can dissolve organics, biological molecules, minerals, and even glass. In other words, it is definitely not a harmless bubbly or carbonated water as it has been described.
Steven Connolly, Health and Safety Executive for the Offshore Safety Division in the U.K., who won an award for his research on both offshore and onshore sequestration, said in this Supercritical Phase, CO2 becomes SCCO2, an acidic solvent, which is used in medical labs to clean lab equipment. He warns that CO2 sequestration, including its capture, transport, and underground storage, has major accident hazard implications for both the workforce and public.
Not only is it corrosive to pipes and pipe sealants, Connolly said, but if it escapes from underground containment areas in sudden and large amounts, it explodes back to its original gaseous state. Because it is heavier than air, it hovers near the ground, and can cause loss of life from the depletion of oxygen - - unconsciousness can occur in less than a minute. If it escapes in slower amounts, such as seeping up from the ground, it can destroy subsurface micro-organisms and other life forms necessary for nutrient-rich soil. Because there is relatively little experience worldwide in managing the risks associated with CO2 sequestration, it should not be compared with oil and gas injection sites, pipelines or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) wells, he warns.
An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PCC) warns that many people mistakenly confuse geologic sequestration with EOR wells. There is a major difference, they say. EOR wells pump CO2 or other gases into oil or gas fields in order to access more oil and gas. The permanent storage of CO2 into underground rock formations is not the same process. They also warn that despite substantial talk on the part of the coal and electric-utility industries, who are pushing for the pumping of CO2 into geologic formations, there are no guarantees that CO2 will be pumped into the earth in a safe and effective manner.
Concerned Citizens worry that an earthquake - - whether naturally occurring or injection induced - - could cause the sudden release of CO2. Susan North, a local artist and Citizens Action Member, said, “It was bad enough that the foundation of my house was damaged in an earthquake that occurred in April 2008, why should I and other residents be forced to worry about both an earthquake and escaping CO2?”
As the June 29th Citizens Action Meeting draws near, Frankie Gilmore, Jr., who is the youngest member of the group, emphasizes that attendance at this meeting is crucial if the experimental sequestration of CO2 is to be stopped. “Taking CO2 from aboveground and injecting it underground, is only going to trade a minor problem for a major one,” he said. “This is a problem that could impact the city, the county, and the entire area surrounding us.”
[reprinted with permission of the author Anne Vehre, co-chair of Citizens Against CO2 Sequestration]
