The Mahomet Aquifer supplies water to hundreds of thousands of people in central Illinois. Estimates for the number of Illinois residents served daily by the aquifer range from 500,000 to 1 million people. The bill to keep water supply safe comes after recent leaks at a carbon injection site in Decatur.
by Jade Aubrey
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD - A bill that bans carbon sequestration over, under or through portions of the Mahomet Aquifer passed out of the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday.
The bill has been a point of contention in the Statehouse during this year’s legislative session, after it was found that a leak occurred during carbon injections carried out by ADM, a Decatur-based agriculture giant.
Carbon sequestration is a relatively new technological process that pumps liquified carbon dioxide deep underground for long-term storage. Proponents say it could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions for high-emissions industries like ethanol production.
Roughly 8,000 metric tons of liquid carbon dioxide and other ground fluid escaped the area it was permitted to be in.
The ADM injection site, which opened in 2011, received the first federal permit for “geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide” in 2017. Since then, the project has stored more than 4.5 million tons of carbon dioxide more than a mile underground.
Photo: Capitol News Illinois/Jerry Nowicki
State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, watches as her bill to ban carbon sequestration under, above or through the Mahomet Aquifer, is voted on.
Although the leak did not take place in the Mahomet Aquifer area, roughly 8,000 metric tons of liquid carbon dioxide and other ground fluid escaped the area it was permitted to be in. ADM temporarily paused carbon injections in October after another issue with a well was identified.
The Mahomet Aquifer supplies water to hundreds of thousands of people in central Illinois. Estimates for the number of Illinois residents served daily by the aquifer range from 500,000 to 1 million people.
In 2015, portions of the aquifer in 14 Illinois counties were designated as a sole source aquifer by the EPA, since contamination of the aquifer could cause significant public health risk. That EPA designation also indicates that there are no “reasonably available alternative drinking water sources” that could be used if the water in the aquifer were contaminated.
Senate Bill 1723 passed on Tuesday with bipartisan support. The bill was spearheaded by Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, and Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. It comes after Illinois lawmakers passed a law last year allowing carbon sequestration anywhere in Illinois.
“Proposals under consideration by the U.S. EPA today would store 50 times the amount of carbon that has been stored at the ADM facility under the Mahomet Aquifer,” Andrew Rehn, the climate policy director of Prairie Rivers Network, said during a Senate committee hearing on the bill in March. “Last year's bill leaves a critical gap. It says you have to replace drinking water if you damage it through your carbon sequestration activity, and the sole source designation means that there is no alternative.”
Charles Harvey, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke on the dangers of carbon sequestration in the wake of the recent ADM leak during the committee hearing. He called the ADM injection facility an “experiment,” as the injection of carbon at such a depth had never been done before.
He said the pressure and depth of the injections led to fissures in both the injection pipes and the levels of rock the carbon was being pumped into and stored under. Since carbon dioxide is a gas, he said it began to seep through the cracks and the fissures and rise back to the surface, which began the leak.
“To do this, it had to move at an alarming velocity of at least three meters a day to have reached it in the four months that after injections for when the seismic inference was made,” Harvey said. “Now, the original report predicted that with 90% confidence this would not happen.”
Opponents of the bill argued that since the Mahomet Aquifer sits at roughly 200 feet under the surface, it isn’t at risk to leaks, as carbon injections pump the gas thousands of feet underground.
Due to the aquifer’s sole source designation, bill proponents also argued that central Illinois residents can’t afford the water to be at risk.
“Eighty-five percent of the geographic land mass in the state of Illinois can be used for carbon sequestration. The aquifer is a very small piece of that, it's just kind of the width of Central Illinois,” Rose said. “You can sequester north or south of this without putting anybody's water in jeopardy.”
Opponents of the bill argued that since the Mahomet Aquifer sits at roughly 200 feet under the surface, it isn’t at risk to leaks, as carbon injections pump the gas thousands of feet underground.
“The geology under and around the Mahomet Aquifer is the best geology to ensure that thousands of feet below the aquifer — we’re not talking immediately under the aquifer, we’re talking thousands of feet, up to a mile below — is the best geology to ensure that the carbon capturing is taking place,” Donovan Griffith, the vice president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, said during the committee. “It's the best in the state.”
The bill passed out of the Senate in April 55-0. It now awaits approval from the governor after passing out of the House on Tuesday with a vote of 91-19.
IMA released a statement on X following the passage of SB1723 urging Gov. JB Pritzker to veto the bill.
“Carbon capture and sequestration is a safe and proven technology that is key to maintaining economic growth and advancing our state’s decarbonization goals. We urge Gov. JB Pritzker to veto this legislation, which discourages investment in clean energy projects including sustainable aviation fuel,” said Mark Denzler, President and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Jade Aubrey contributed to this article.
PONTIAC - People everywhere are conquering their cabin fever and are enjoying the great outdoors after a long, bitter winter. But before you head out for that hike, health care experts remind you to take precautions to avoid tick bites.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates around 300,000 people are infected with Lyme disease each year, and is now warning people to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of the disease, which is usually contracted through tick bites.
Tina Barton, Infection Preventionist at OSF HealthCare says there are tell-tale signs of Lyme disease, including a rash around the bite mark that takes the shape of a bulls-eye.
"If you get infected, then it starts out with a rash. The rash may not appear for like three days or so and then it’s followed by a lot of like flu-like symptoms," said Barton. "So it can be fatigue and sore throats and things like that can go along with it too.”
When caught early, Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics. However, when untreated the disease can develop into meningitis, or other severe illnesses that can require hospitalization and further treatment.
According to Barton, the best action against Lyme disease is to pay attention to your surroundings and avoid the bite in the first place.
“If you’re going to be in a wooded area or a weedy area, that type of thing, you need to stay in the middle of the path and not out where you’re up against it," she said. "Because there’s a myth out there that ticks fall out of trees, but they don’t fall out of trees, they’re on the ground so they get on you and they crawl up you.”
Tick bite bullseye
The CDC gives us some simple steps to keep tick bites at bay:
Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks
Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter
Walk in the center of trails
Repel Ticks on Skin and Clothing
Use repellent that contains 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin for protection that lasts several hours.
Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin. It remains protective through several washings. Pre-treated clothing is available and may be protective longer.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an online tool to help you select the repellent that is best for you and your family.
Finding and Remove Ticks from Your Body
Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (preferably within 2 hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks that are crawling on you.
Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon return from tick-infested areas. Parents should check their children for ticks under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.
Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and day packs.
Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors.
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Rybak wins state track title, next stop Notre Dame
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Father McGivney's Elena Rybak and St. Anthony's Isabella Keller embrace after running in the Class 1A 1600m Run on Saturday at the Illinois High School Association's Girls Track & Field State Finals.
by Jade Aubrey
