The Sangamon County Board voted unanimously Tuesday to place a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipeline sequestration sites through the end of the year.

In a public meeting held at the Bank of Springfield Center, members of the board said too many questions remain unanswered as Sangamon along with 11 other counties in Illinois could see construction on a multi-state pipeline carrying and storing liquified carbon dioxide underground in Montgomery or Christian County.

Nearly 300 miles of a CO2 pipeline from Navigator CO2 Ventures will run through, now being considered by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Already petitioning to be involved in the commission’s 11-month review of Navigator’s pipeline, the board moved forward with a resolution opposing any state or federal approval of a pipeline or sequestration site in the county.

Navigator CO2 Ventures filed a new application with the Illinois Commerce Commission on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. The filing expands the carbon dioxide pipeline into Montgomery.

What the county is wanting to secure from Navigator is a guarantee to help provide training and equipment in case of a pipeline burst. The need for electric vehicles has been emphasized since they do not rely on internal combustion – how a gas-powered car’s engine starts requiring oxygen to be present in the air.

“We still haven’t fully heard everything that we need to hear, especially on the safety,” Greg Stumpf, District 16, said after the meeting. “If we’re going to ever approve a program, a pipeline that comes through like this, if we get that authority to do that, if the ICC doesn’t take that out of our hands, well we want to make sure that all these questions can be answered.”

Navigator, a Nebraska-based company, has stood by the safety measures that it will take with its pipeline – Navigator Heartland Greenway. Still, opponents remain concerned for the potential of a pipeline burst close to communities like New Berlin and Glenarm.

The fear has led many to not give Navigator access willingly to their property. As of June, Navigator has also only received 13.4% of the right-of-way easement agreements statewide and 5.2% in Sangamon County according to its own data.

Selling the project has meant scheduling countless meetings with landowners and emergency response teams, Navigator representative James Prescott said.

“It’s fair to say the burden of truth is on us to present the facts, present the data,” he said.

The vote follows a July 17 hours-long forum held by the county Zoning and Land Use Committee also attended by Navigator representatives and hundreds of community members mostly in opposition.

There, Navigator pledged to meet and exceed standards set by the United States Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

“This project is not for the good of Illinois without risking our citizens’ lives for their profit, which will be paid by our tax dollars,” Glenarm resident and pipeline opponent Kathleen Campbell said during a public comment section of the meeting.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: County board passes resolutions opposing CO2 pipeline