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U.S. EPA Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Permit for Carbon Sequestration Injection Well in Decatur, Illinois

Release Date: 04/16/2014
Contact Information: Peter Cassell, 312-886-6234, [email protected]

CHICAGO - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comment on a proposed permit that would allow Archer Daniels Midland to inject carbon dioxide deep underground at a facility in Decatur, Illinois. This process – known as “carbon sequestration” – is a means of storing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The public comment period opens today and closes May 30, 2014; a public hearing will be held on May 21, 2014.

ADM plans to capture carbon dioxide emitted during the production of ethanol at the company’s Decatur facility and to inject the carbon dioxide deep underground in the proposed well. ADM’s goal is to capture and inject 1.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. Sequestering 1.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year is the equivalent of eliminating carbon emissions from 232,000 cars.

The public hearing on the proposed permit will begin at 7 p.m. on May 21 at the Decatur Public Library, 130 North Franklin Street. Oral and written comments will be accepted at the hearing. Two question-and-answer sessions will be held at the library before the public hearing: from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Draft documents and information about the public hearing are available at the Decatur Public Library and on EPA’s website at www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/adm. Comments can be submitted online at www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/adm or mailed to Allan Batka, U.S. EPA (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590. For additional information contact EPA’s toll-free line at 800-621-8431, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (weekdays).