Lake Maurepas is one of the sites for where carbon dioxide would be captured and injected deep underground as part of a larger clean energy project. Louisiana is poised to become a hub for carbon capture technology to curb greenhouse gases but environmentalists and some state climate task force members question if that's such a good thing.
Lake Maurepas is one of the sites for where carbon dioxide would be captured and injected deep underground as part of a larger clean energy project. Louisiana is poised to become a hub for carbon capture technology to curb greenhouse gases but environmentalists and some state climate task force members question if that's such a good thing.
Livingston Parish leaders voted unanimously Thursday to impose a year-long moratorium on injection wells used in carbon capture, citing the need for stricter local regulation amid anxieties over the technology's safety.
Carbon capture and storage is a process by which carbon emissions are captured at an industrial site and injected deep underground. The practice has been praised by industry as a promising path for emissions reduction but strongly criticized by environmental groups who argue it is too risky and ineffective.
Louisiana has been poised to become a hub for the technology, with companies staking out claims in various parishes throughout the last year. Now, the question of carbon emissions storage has come to Livingston Parish.
Council members and residents alike spoke in fierce opposition to such projects slated for the Holden and Lake Maurepas areas, expressing fears the projects could endanger their communities and their drinking water.
“I, for one, am tired of Livingston Parish being everyone else’s dumping ground,” said Council Chairman Jeff Ard. “If you’re going to force it down our throats, you’re going to pay us to bring it here.”
Although Class VI wells — defined as wells used to inject carbon dioxide into deep rock formations — are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Councilman Shane Mack said there are "some other things that need to be looked at" he believes can be addressed by local government.
His plan includes outlining specific requirements for materials compatible with CO2 contact, injection well operation and location, monitoring, post-injection site care and recordkeeping.
The goal is to pause authorization of drilling and injecting CO2 into the ground so the parish council could "write some regulation to ensure that the quality of life and safety of the people of Livingston Parish is protected."
At least two carbon capture projects are being considered for Livingston Parish.
Air Products plans to build a “blue hydrogen” manufacturing plant near Burnside that would extract methane from natural gas. The plan is to have the facility open by 2026. The carbon dioxide produced in the process would be captured and put under pressure, turning it into a liquid. The liquid would be injected deep underground in wells across Livingston, St. James, St. John the Baptist and Tangipahoa parishes. The state land would include the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management Area and Lake Maurepas.
Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, plans to build a carbon sequestration facility in Livingston. It is leasing 300,000 acres of land in the parish from Weyerhaeuser. OLCV has filed a permit with the EPA to build injection wells. The company hopes to have the Livingston facility online by 2025.
Mack said at a recent ordinance committee meeting the Oxy facility north of Holden is near residential structures.
"That’s something we really need to take a long hard look at," he said. "The location of these wells and how it affects the residential living, the farmland … all these sorts of things."
Several council members said they had no knowledge of the carbon capture projects until residents contacted them — a pattern several said caused concern.
Although Mack noted his moratorium proposal was strictly to buy his community time to do more research and better understand the risk of carbon capture, some residents and many of his fellow council members were unequivocal in their desire to forever halt any type of sequestration efforts in the parish.
“The bottom line is how we stop them,” said Councilman Randy Delatte.
Many spoke of children and grandchildren they feared would be impacted in the future. Eileen Bates-McCarroll, the mayor of the town of Albany, asked council members to consider the three water wells in her area that support 2,300 residents. What would happen 10, 15 or 20 years down the road if carbon sequestration became a regular occurrence in the parish?
One resident brought up the 2020 incident in Satartia, Mississippi, where a pipeline carrying compressed carbon dioxide ruptured. Over 40 people required hospital treatment and more than 300 were forced to evacuate.
Mack took the time to recognize the value of the chemical industry to Louisiana, noting many people have made "a good living" and cared for their families through such careers. But he emphasized how "precious" the parish is to those who grew up there.
"I hope and pray with everything I have that the industries understand our concern,” he said.
Advocate Business Editor Timothy Boone contributed to this story.
Email Jacqueline DeRobertis at jderobertis@theadvocate.com
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