City of Greenville, Ohio Opposed to Large-scale CO2 Sequestration Project - City Officials Put On the Spot

Greenville Officials Put on The Spot at Tuesday Council Meeting

From WTGR Radio in Greenville, OH (Link to the story is here)

“I have been against this project from the beginning. There are a thousand other options available to reduce CO2 emissions.”

Those were the words of Greenville Councilman John Baumgartner at Tuesday’s council meeting as council and other city officials were challenged to give their personal opinions of the potential carbon sequestration project at the ethanol plant in Greenville. One by one, every official in the room did just that during the public hearing portion of the meeting as two Greenville citizens, Lynn Bliss and Enid Goubeax, put officials on the spot in front of a packed council room, filled with members of the Citizens Against Carbon Sequestration. Though neither Bliss or Goubeaux were directly representing the group on Tuesday, they shared the same sentiment that the city’s recent official press release did not go far enough in addressing the controversial issue. Those present also took issue with a particular phrase in the press release that they felt was inaccurate. That statement indicated that there was a “rift in the community” over the project.

“We want to show that there is no rift in the community, but there may be a rift between the community and its’ government. The community, though, has been untied by this issue”, stated Bliss.

Goubeaux added that she had lived in the community since 1961 and had never seen area residents as untied as they are currently in their opposition to this potential project. What Goubeaux said next, however, is what began perhaps the lengthiest public hearing portion of a council meeting in many years…

“We are going to be calling each of you in the next few days to ask you to express your personal view (on this project)”, said Goubeaux, “ A no comment will be interpreted as a vote of support.”

Though reactions to the aggressive tactic varied by official, all present opted not to wait for the phone call and answered directly on Tuesday evening.

All the statements indicated that city officials are against the project for many of the same reasons that residents have expressed. Councilman Leon Rogers stated, “I am more against it the more that I learn about it.” Referring to the fact that the federal government may play a role in the final decision he said, “If it will be anywhere, it should be under Washington D.C.”

That was one of many statements that drew applause from attendees. However, much of the discussion during the evening was heated as officials stated they took offense to the indication that they had not researched the issues. Rogers asked residents yesterday not to mistake silence for indifference, saying, “We have been doing what you were doing, gathering information. ”

During dialogue between Anne Vehry, a founder of The Citizens Against Carbon Sequestration and City Law Director Jeff Amick, Amick expressed what other officials had already indicated- that the city may be powerless to stop the project. However, when asked what chance he thought there was of The Andersons moving forward with the project, he guessed it was less than 20%, “I can tell you, they don’t have any intention of the project going thru at this time. But until there is an actual project to stop, we can’t do anything. If we initiate legislation, we will have the burden of proof that the project is a public nuisance. “

Amick said that might be difficult to prove and would certainly be expensive. He added, as other officials did on Tuesday, that The Anderson’s was the most ethical and honest company with which he had ever done business. One common theme did emerge from the statements, and it was one that many did not want to hear. Most officials present, who have been researching the project for over a year, stated they thought carbon sequestration was likely inevitable even if the drilling was stopped here in Greenville.

“We are on the Mount Simon Sandstone. It covers numerous states and I believe that whether CO2 is pumped in at the Andersons in a test program or whether it’s pumped in the ground in Michigan or Indiana, the City of Greenville is going to be on top of sequestered CO2”, explained Greenville Safety/Service Director John Schmidt, “I just don’t want the test wells to be here”.

German Grassroots Opposition Movement with local political support

To our allies in Germany fighting CO2 sequestration - we are cheering you on!

Click here to be taken to the story

"It was meant to be the world’s first demonstration of a technology that could help save the planet from global warming – a project intended to capture emissions from a coal-fired power station and bury them safely underground.

But the German carbon capture plan has ended with CO2 being pumped directly into the atmosphere, following local opposition at it being stored underground."

Strong Oppostion to CO2 storage project in Denmark

A group of landowners in northern Jutland have collectively dug in their heels to stamp out a power company’s plans to establish a giant underground carbon dioxide storage chamber in Jammerbugten.

The power company has been promoting the argument that carbon dioxide is no more harmful than water and insists the resident have nothing to fear from the project. Vattenfall also points out that the European Union has indicated it wants 10-12 full-scale CCS projects at power plants across the continent within the next few years.

But even scientists at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland are at odds over the process.

Villy Fenhann, senior researcher at GEUS, is one of those who believes CCS diverts money from other, more viable climate solutions, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.

‘We should be investing in the most environmentally friendly solutions and not in a method that is 50 percent more expensive,’ said Fenhann. ‘I wouldn’t feel safe with a CCS chamber in my backyard, either.’

Yet Fenhann’s colleague at GEUS, Thomas Vangkilde-Pedersen, said he didn’t see any danger with the project and that Jammerbugten was a perfect area to begin a new pilot.

But about 25 landowners in the area have now united under the banner ‘No to CO2 Storage Association’ to fight the project.

Vattenfall has offered Jammerbugten landowners 3,700 kroner each plus 1,000 kroner per hectare in compensation to get them ‘on side’ with the project. So far, 306 area residents have agreed to the project.

But according to the association of landowners opposed to the project, Vattenfall has also threatened to use the expropriation law to get around those who refused.

05/08-2009 Read more at The Copenhagen Post.

How long has Darke County (Greenville), OH been on the MRCSP radar?

FACT SHEET FOR PARTNERSHIP FIELD
VALIDATION TEST
Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership
(MRCSP)
NETL Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-05NT42589

Submitted by Battelle
November 2007





Apparently, much longer than we were aware of...... this report mentions a geological study being done in 2002 and many more "interesting" facts about the Battelle-led MRCSP Phase III large-scale project, including some of these:

Test Location Primary Site:
The Andersons Marathon Ethanol (TAME) Plant, Greenville,Ohio.

Optional Site:
Duke IGCC plant, Edwardsport, Indiana

"CO2 storage simulations have been carried out in earlier research by members of the MRCSP
team for the Mt. Simon in west-central Ohio near the TAME Ethanol site (Gupta et al 2002).
While these early models were not in the exact same location as the proposed projects, the
results are similar to what may be expected for these general areas. Key input parameters in the
simulations were based on best available regional data, and the parameters are not site specific,
but they are fairly reasonable for the Mt. Simon in the respective area. These initial models indicate that injection rates of over 1 million tons of CO2 per year may be sustained in the Mt. Simon at the TAME site."

"Emissions from large point sources in the MRCSP region are approximately 765 million metric tons CO2"

"Continues to develop and establish a CCS framework in the region with ongoing geologic framework, regional carbon sequestration exploration, and outreach efforts. "


http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/proceedings/07/rcsp/factsheets/5-MRCSP_Large%20Scale%20CO2%20Storage%20in%20Mt.%20Simon%20Reservoir.pdf

Coal reps, protesters clash at conference - Pittsburgh 2008

The full article can be found by clicking here
Wednesday, May 07, 2008

By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

" Governmental regulators, scientists, academics and power industry representatives attending a conference here were interrupted yesterday morning when two dozen protesters with hundreds of balloons bearing the message "Coal is dirty" crashed their meeting.

The seventh annual Conference of Carbon Capture and Sequestration featured presentations promising that untested carbon capture and control technology will reduce power plant emissions of carbon dioxide. The protesters barged in on the gathering to say they didn't think so.

As they released the black and yellow balloons in the Sheraton Station Square Hotel ballroom, Beverly Braverman, executive director of the Mountain Watershed Association in Fayette County, told the 600 conference attendees that federal tax money shouldn't be used to subsidize the development of a technology that perpetuates dependence on coal.

"We object to carbon capture and sequestration because the technology is unproven, it's expensive and its use ignores all of the other damage done to coalfield communities," said Ms. Braverman."

"After a police officer escorted Ms. Braverman and the other protesters from the ballroom, Mr. Kupfer announced that the Bush administration has allocated $648 million for coal-related research this year, and $125 million over the next 10 years for two new carbon capture demonstration projects in Ohio and California. Four other demonstration projects were awarded more than $250 million last year."

"But even as the idea gains traction in the coal and power industries and with the Bush administration, which recently set a goal of stopping the growth of carbon emissions by 2025, environmental groups have increasingly questioned the wisdom of spending billions of dollars of public money to develop the technology.

A Greenpeace report released Monday says there are major questions about carbon capture technology's effectiveness and cost.

The report says it won't be commercially available until 2030 at the earliest, that 70 percent of the power plants operating in 2050 won't be able to use the technology and that it will require power plants to produce 10 percent to 40 percent more electricity to operate the collection apparatus. That will increase coal consumption by one-third over today's level.

The report also says that carbon capture could double the operating costs of power plants and lead to price hikes of 21 percent to 91 percent.

Rebecca Tarbotton, Rainforest Action Network global finance campaign director and a speaker at the conference, said the government subsidies will prolong the nation's and the world's dependence on coal.

"We don't want the technology and its development used as an excuse for continued reliance and expansion of coal use," she said."