The Archer-Daniels-Midland agribusiness company ADM has suspended injecting carbon dioxide into its Illinois carbon capture and storage (CCS) site after discovering a potential underground leak, the company confirmed Wednesday.
The CCS operation at the ADM Decatur plant, the first major project of its kind in the United States, aims to demonstrate that the technology – billed as a tool to fight climate change (link) – can be used safely.
On Sept. 24, ADM detected potential movement of brine “between several formations” at a depth of 5,000 feet, according to a letter the company sent to the Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 27 and seen by Reuters.
Environmental groups in Illinois have expressed concern that the CCS project could pose a risk to drinking water.
“We can’t afford to wait for a disaster,” said Pam Richart, leader of a coalition of local groups that oppose CCS projects above the Mahomet Aquifer, which lies beneath the ADM site.
Jackie Anderson, a spokeswoman for ADM, said the accident poses no risk to surface or groundwater or public health and that injection has been suspended at the site while the company conducts further testing.
In September, ADM confirmed that the EPA had found in August that the company had violated federal drinking water safety regulations (link) by failing to follow an emergency response plan after a leak in one of its monitoring wells of the site.
