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.
A bill in response to Massey’s death that would give Sangamon County residents the power to recall an elected official, like the sheriff. Cook County already has the power to hold recall votes. Here are other Illinois laws in the works.
by Ben Szalinski & Bridgette Fox
Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD - A long-awaited bill to reform the Prisoner Review Board will soon go to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk after receiving approval in the legislature Tuesday.
The House voted 74-37 to approve Senate Bill 19, which contains a series of reforms designed to include victims’ participation in Prisoner Review Board decisions. The measure now needs only a signature from the governor to become law.
The bill would give victims the right to file victim impact statements ahead of hearings, provide them with additional notice when their offender is granted early release, and allow them to seek an order of protection against an offender who is incarcerated.
It would also create the Office of the Director of Victim and Witness Services, which would ensure the board complies with victims’ rights, and mandates the board provide victims with contact information for the State Victim Assistance Hotline.
The bill also extends the terms for PRB members from six to eight years.
“The bulk of this bill is focused on ... making sure that victims, survivors, are more engaged in the process at PRB because unfortunately, too often, we’ve heard from victims and family members that they simply haven’t been given a voice in this process,” bill sponsor Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said.
Reforms pushed by the General Assembly last year failed to advance to the governor’s desk despite nearly unanimous support from the legislature. Pritzker opposed a requirement in the bill that board hearings to be livestreamed, and the bill was never called for a vote in the final days of last year’s session.
WINDHORST
Guzzardi said the bill passed Tuesday includes many of the portions lawmakers agreed on last year, but many Republicans have expressed concerns the latest version was too weak compared to the previous version.
The reforms come after Crosetti Brand allegedly murdered an 11-year-old Chicago boy in 2024. That February, the board voted to release Brand, finding there was not enough evidence he had violated his conditions of release. His ex-girlfriend, Laterria Smith, was denied an emergency order of protection by a Cook County judge while Brand was imprisoned at Stateville in Crest Hill.
Brand was charged with attacking Smith the day after his release and killing her 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, who attempted to protect his mother. Two PRB members, including the board chair, resigned in the wake of the incident.
Response to Sonya Massey’s death
Another bill needing only the governor’s signature to become law would change hiring practices for law enforcement agencies after it passed through the House on May 15.
Senate Bill 1953 would require all law enforcement agencies in the state to obtain all of the investigations, examinations and records about a potential hire from all entities that previously employed them. Previous employers and law enforcement agencies are required to release the information within two weeks of receiving such a request.
Photo:Nikhil Mistry/Unsplash"
Senate bill requires all law enforcement agencies in the state to obtain all records about a potential hire from previous employers to weed out bad actors.
Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, has been pushing for legislation in response to the death of Sonya Massey, a Springfield resident who was shot and killed in her home by a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy in July 2024.
The former sheriff’s deputy, Sean Grayson, was originally called to Massey’s home in Springfield about reports of a prowler. After not finding anything outside, Grayson and his partner spoke with Massey inside her home.
Grayson was disciplined at a previous job for disobeying orders from superiors, general aggression and posting about drug busts online. Grayson was also found to have lied about being honorably discharged from the Army.
The deputies stood in the living room while Massey, with permission, removed a pot of boiling water from the stove in the adjoined kitchen. Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” after comments from deputies about the hot water, then Grayson threatened to shoot her. Body camera video showed Grayson shooting her seconds after the threat as Massey apologized.
Grayson is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Following Massey’s death, Capitol News Illinois unearthed documents showing Grayson was disciplined at a previous job for disobeying orders from superiors, general aggression and posting about drug busts online. Grayson was also found to have lied about being honorably discharged from the Army.
The measure passed through the House on a vote of 101-12.
JAMES WILBURN
“We can't legislate for judgment,” said the bill’s House sponsor Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, during a news conference last week. “What we can do is make sure that the answer that we got from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department was that they did not know. That will no longer be the case when we pass this bill.”
Turner sponsored another bill in response to Massey’s death that would give Sangamon County residents the power to recall an elected official, like the sheriff. Cook County already has the power to hold recall votes.
Senate Bill 1954 passed through the Senate but hasn’t made its way through a House committee, meaning its passage could be an uphill battle.
“It's not done for this year,” Buckner said. “We just need to figure out what's going to happen in these next couple of weeks.”
Tornado-safe warehouses
A mile-wide EF3 tornado tore through St. Louis on Friday afternoon before crossing into Illinois and inflicting more damage in parts of Madison County. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado passed less than a mile from a complex of warehouses where a man was killed when a similar strength tornado demolished an Amazon warehouse in December 2021.
In response to the 2021 tornado, Illinois lawmakers convened a task force to issue recommendations on how to make warehouses safer in a tornado. In response to those recommendations, the House voted 83-28 Tuesday to pass House Bill 2987, which creates a series of new requirements warehouses must follow to protect their employees during a tornado warning.
The tornado first impacted the west-facing wall, causing it to collapse. That caused other structural failures, including the roof to collapse.
"It’s very timely that I’m calling this today as I spent part of my Friday and the last three weekends hunkered down in the basement with a tornado coming through my area,” Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said.
The bill now heads to the Senate. It requires warehouse operators to work with local first responder agencies to craft safety plans for severe weather. New warehouses would need to be built with shelter spaces compliant with building codes for tornadoes and other types of natural disasters.
The 2021 tornado hit as the Amazon warehouse was bustling ahead of the holidays. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado traveled through the south half of the building. The tornado first impacted the west-facing wall, causing it to collapse. That caused other structural failures, including the roof to collapse.
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into Amazon did not find any violations, according to the task force report. OSHA recommended the company review its severe weather procedures, ensure employees are provided training and participate in drills, have site-specific information about severe weather plans, and ensure audible warning devices are accessible. The warehouse was rebuilt and reopened in September 2024.
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.
Fatal heart attack risks may be higher during days with extreme heat & air pollution
The combination of soaring heat and smothering fine particulate pollution may double the risk of heart attack death, according to a new study of more than 202,000 heart attack deaths in China. The study published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.
ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph-Ogden's Tyler Hess is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal in the first half. The junior led the team to a 5-3 win over University High on Wednesday at Dick Duval Field. Hess, who is the top finisher in the area with a hat trick in the team's first three matches this season, will try to make it four in a row in the undefeated Spartans' road game against the Vermilion Valley Conference's Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers on Friday. More photos and a game recap coming soon.
by Jade Aubrey
