Martin Schneider
GHG Monitor
4/4/2014
The Environmental Protection Agency earlier this week granted a draft Class VI underground injection well permit to the FutureGen Alliance for its carbon capture and storage project in Illinois, the first Class VI permit to be issued by the agency. EPA will accept comments on the draft permits through May 15 and will hold a public hearing on May 7 in Jacksonville, Ill. “The FutureGen Alliance is pleased that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued draft underground injection control (UIC) permits to construct and operate Class VI injection wells for the FutureGen 2.0 project,” FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys said in a statement. “When finalized, the Class VI permits will allow for the permanent geologic sequestration (capture and storage) of carbon dioxide in a saline aquifer within the Mt. Simon sandstone formation. The Alliance appreciates the hard work the agency has done to complete the draft permit and we look forward to the issuance of a final permit which will allow us to keep this near-zero emissions project on track."
Until recently, the operators of CO2 injection wells were required to acquire UIC Class II or Class V permits for enhanced oil recovery or shallow experimental projects, respectively. But in late 2010 EPA finalized a new class of well permits aimed at regulating CO2 injected for permanent sequestration in saline reservoirs, known as Class VI. The classification is aimed at ensuring the long-term safety of drinking water, even as project developers move forward on a process that has not yet been tested over a long period of time. The permit requires extensive site characterization, as well as a multi-decade post-injection monitoring regime.
FutureGen plans four main wells and several additional wells that the company would use to monitor the injection. The proposed Morgan County CO2 storage site is 11 miles northeast of Jacksonville, Ill., and the FutureGen Alliance plans to inject approximately 1.1 million metric tons of CO2 annually for 20 years. The CO2 would be captured from a coal plant in Meredosia, Ill., which is being repowered with oxy-combustion and carbon capture technology. The CO2 will be piped underground approximately 30 miles to the storage site for injection and permanent storage.
