The battle over massive carbon dioxide pipelines proposed for Illinois and other Midwestern states has reached Congress, with 13 House Democrats — including U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García of Illinois — calling on President Joe Biden to block construction until new federal safety guidelines are released.
In a letter sent to the president Tuesday, the lawmakers cited a 2020 pipeline rupture in Mississippi in which CO2, an invisible gas that displaces oxygen, spread to the nearby town of Satartia. There were reports that victims experienced breathing problems and confusion, and three men were found in a stalled car, unconscious.
No one died but 45 people sought hospital care, and federal regulators started working on updated safety standards, which are expected to be completed and in place in 2024.
“New pipeline infrastructure will invariably put more communities in danger given the complexity of transporting CO2 thousands of miles with what could create dozens of points of entry and exit for CO2,” said the letter, an effort led by Garcia and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, with co-signers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
The letter urges Biden to issue an executive order declaring a moratorium on federal permits for new carbon pipelines until safety regulations are finalized by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
“We further request that the Administration direct PHMSA to consider the unique hazards of CO2 and the knowledge gaps about CO2 transportation safety to ensure we do not have more disasters like the one that happened in Satartia, Mississippi,” the letter says.
Illinois farmers, landowners and environmentalists are in a pitched battle over whether to allow Navigator CO2’s 1,350-mile Heartland Greenway pipeline to cross the state. Opponents say safety is a top concern.
Navigator has said the pipeline can be operated safely and the company has pointed to thousands of miles of CO2 pipeline already in use in the United States, mostly by the oil industry, which uses carbon dioxide to boost production.
Other proposals for CO2 pipelines include the 260-mile Wolf Carbon Solutions pipeline in Illinois and Iowa and the 2,000-mile Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, which could span Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
All are part of an explosion in interest in capturing carbon dioxide, transporting it via pipeline and burying it deep underground. The interest is driven, in part, by generous tax incentives in the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
Scientists say that capturing and storing carbon dioxide is necessary if the United States is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and stave off the worst effects of climate change.
The United States, currently home to about 5,300 miles of CO2 pipeline, could have more than 68,000 miles by 2050, according to a Princeton University report.
Carbon dioxide is easily captured during the production of corn-based ethanol, making the Midwest highly attractive to companies seeking the tax credits offered by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The letter to Biden cited a report commissioned by the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust that highlighted concerns about current CO2 pipeline safety regulations including a potential loophole that could leave some CO2 pipelines unregulated.
Among the gaps in current state and federal safety regulations that the Tribune reported in July:
- There is no state or federal limit on how close pipelines carrying a potentially suffocating gas can be placed to a home, school or hospital.
- There is no requirement that an odorant be added to the CO2 to alert the public to a leak, as is done with natural gas.
- There is no limit on the impurities that are allowed in the carbon dioxide, despite the potential for pipeline corrosion and health hazards in the event of a leak.
- There is no requirement that pipeline companies use a specific method to map potential accident hazard zones, although one standard approach — which failed in Mississippi — doesn’t take complex topography into account.
In May, more than 150 environmental and advocacy groups — including the Center for Biological Diversity, Eco-Justice Collaborative and Food & Water Watch — signed a letter to Biden calling for a moratorium on new CO2 pipelines.
Tuesday’s letter to the president was endorsed by groups including the Sierra Club, the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, Progressive Democrats of America, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for International Environmental Law, according to García’s office.