Ohio EPA has a new site and new look

http://www.epa.ohio.gov/

From our friends in the Netherlands - the opposition group

SUMMARY IN ENGLISH
In June 2009 the city council of Barendrecht, a small city south of Rotterdam, voted against the plans to store large quantities of CO2 in the underground of the village. This local decision was based on facts not on emotions. The three most important arguments for the local CDA party to vote against CO2 storage are:

• There are no guarantees for the safety of the residents, nor are all questions regarding the safety of CO2 storage answered. Especially because of the infinite period of storage.
• There are questions whether the scientific research concerning CO2 storage in Barendrecht is objective and unbiased.
• There is no basis, nor support for CO2 storage in Barendrecht.

The Dutch national government can overrule the decision of the local government. Whether or not the national government will overrule Barendrecht will be clear in the autumn of 2009 when the minister of Economic Affairs and the minister for the Environment will decide to continue with CO2 storage in and under Barendrecht.

If you have questions or want more local information feel free to send us an e-mail: \n Dit e-mail adres is beschermd door spambots, u heeft Javascript nodig om dit onderdeel te kunnen bekijken "> CO2@cdabarendrecht.nl

De gemeenteraad van Barendrecht heeft op 29 juni 2009 definitief nee gezegd tegen het demonstratieproject ondergrondse CO2 - opslag in Barendrecht. De gemeenteraad heeft het besluit gebaseerd op feiten, cijfers en argumenten. De veiligheid voor onze bewoners en toekomstige generaties is niet maximaal gewaarborgd.

Consequenties Principebesluit 29 juni 2009

Het college en de klankbordgroep van de gemeenteraad hebben verder besproken welke concrete consequenties het principebesluit van 29 juni (nee tegen het CO₂-project) heeft voor het gemeentelijke beleid. Geconcludeerd is dat de gemeente niet meewerkt aan onderzoeken en geen vergunningen verleent die op een of andere manier kunnen worden beschouwd als voorbereiding op de CO₂-opslag. Indien de gemeente wordt verzocht gegevens of rapportages te verstrekken, worden die slechts verstrekt indien de gemeente dit op grond van de Wet openbaarheid van bestuur (Wob) verplicht is.

Besluit provincie en ministers
De verwachting is dat de provincie en de minsters eind 2009 een definitief besluit nemen over de plannen in Barendrecht.

Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership cancels Ohio CCS project despite DOE funding

The 35-member Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Project (MRCSP) has cancelled a $92.8m proposal to inject one million tons of carbon dioxide over four years from an ethanol plant in Greenville, western Ohio.

Battelle Memorial Institute, a major, non-profit research and development organisation which manages MRCSP, issued a terse communiqué saying the decision was based on “business considerations.”

“That’s all I can tell you,” Katy Delaney, a Battelle spokeswoman says in response to queries from Recharge.

The move came after the US Energy Department in May 2008 awarded MRCSP $61m to fund the third phase of carbon capture and storage research over 10 years at the Greenville site.

The CO2 would have been injected into the Mount Simon Sandstone formation, which is more than 3,000 feet beneath the surface. It stretches across much of the Midwest region and has the potential to store more than 100 years of CO2 emissions from major point sources in the region, according to DOE.

Specifically, the third phase, for which MRCSP members would have contributed almost $32m, was to validate that the injection and storage could be done on a safe, permanent and economic basis.

Local officials and state representatives had increasingly opposed the project fearing it would lower property values and increase seismic activity.

Click here to continue

As Paul Harvey would say, click here for "the rest of the story"

Protesters Win CO2 Battle In Darke County, Ohio

Protesters Win CO2 Battle In Darke Co.

As soon as we received word that the project was canceled, we started a phone chain to get our committee on the circle to take a photo for the Advocate - even during the tornado warnings!
In a little over 90 minutes the majority of us were there, in our green shirts, celebrating!

We hope to have a big celebration and engage our community - after the fair is over!

See us on WHIOTV by clicking here. Many thanks to WHIOTV for your coverage!

Posted: 6:35 am EDT August 20, 2009Updated: 3:52 pm EDT August 20, 2009

GREENVILLE, Ohio -- A vocal group of citizens in Greenville are celebrating a victory in their efforts to keep tons of CO2 waste from being pumped into the ground in Darke County.The Columbus-based Battelle Research Center announced that Greenville is no longer being considered for a carbon sequestration project.In a news release, Battelle said, “Due to business considerations, Greenville, Ohio, is no longer being considered for a carbon sequestration project.”The news ended 14 months of protest by Citizens Against Carbon Sequestration. The group protested the unknowns of what the future could bring if CO2 waste would be allowed 3.500 feet below ground.The group used yard signs, public meetings and commission meetings, along with a prayer rally to gain public support.A recent poll showed that more than 90 percent of those who participated in the poll were against carbon sequestration.

Darke County CITIZENS CELEBRATE - MRCSP Phase III CO2 Project in Greenville Ohio - WILL NOT HAPPEN

Battelle announced today that Greenville, OH was no longer on the list for consideration of a large-scale CO2 project. A jubilant committee celebrates on the town "circle" - this community has never been so united! Look for us in both the Democrat and Republican booths at the Great Darke County Fair.......

THANK YOU DARKE COUNTY FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Read the full article here!

PowerPoint - Property & Regulatory Issues CO2 Sequestration

www.stoel.com/webfiles/RMMLI_July2008.ppt

National Mining Association Carbon Capture and Storage - Barriers to CCS

http://www.nma.org/pdf/fact_sheets/ccs.pdf Read entire article here

I find this to be an interesting statement - Avoiding application of the federal Superfund program to in• jections of CO2;

At present, uncertainty over siting requirements and long-term liability issues associated with the underground storage of CO2 have deterred project developers, financiers and insurers from moving forward with CCS. However, CCS as a tool for mitigating CO2 emissions and ensuring a secure and affordable energy supply for America represents a vital public interest that merits a federal-level program to clarify and resolve these long-term liability issues and to clear the way for the rapid and widespread commercialization of the technology. Some of the key issues that must be resolved in order to foster widespread commercialization of CCS include:
Determining responsibility for post-closure monitoring;•
Avoiding application of the federal Superfund program to in• jections of CO2;
Avoiding characterization of CO• 2 as a waste and CCS activities as waste disposal to avoid triggering expensive “cradle to grave” regulations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and
Resolving property rights issues, including pore space owner• ship, trespass and interstate issues relating to CO2 transportation and placement.

Property Rights Issues Could Stymie Geologic Carbon Sequestration, an Industrial Info News Alert

SUGAR LAND, TX--(Marketwire - August 17, 2009) - Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- Efforts in the U.S. to geologically sequester carbon-dioxide emissions could be delayed or derailed unless state and federal governments find a way to address property rights issues, lawyers at Stoel Rives LLP (Portland, Oregon) told Industrial Info. The Waxman-Markey energy bill, currently being considered by the U.S. Senate, awards bonus carbon-dioxide allowances to utilities that will deploy carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies at coal-fired power plants by 2015. Property rights are critical to geologic carbon sequestration, because the underground areas needed to store carbon dioxide are extremely large and could cross state borders. The potential interstate nature of carbon sequestration projects means that the federal government could take a leading role in creating a consistent legal framework for acquiring the property rights for these projects.

For details, view the entire article by subscribing to Industrial Info's Premium Industry News at http://www.industrialinfo.com/showNews.jsp?newsitemID=149353, or browse other breaking industrial news stories at www.industrialinfo.com.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news. For more information send inquiries to powergroup@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at www.industrialinfo.com.

Carbon DISASTER

Lawrence Solomon: Carbon disaster

Posted: August 15, 2009, 1:38 AM by NP Editor

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/08/14/lawrence-solomon-carbon-disaster.aspx

Don’t worry about the risks of earthquakes or suffocation or water contamination. Carbon capture is good, really

By Lawrence Solomon

I

f you live in or near a community that manufactures chemicals or cement, or that has a refinery or a coal or natural gas electricity generating station, or that has abandoned mines or other suitable geological formations, you may soon be asked to save the planet from global warming by hosting an underground carbon dioxide storage facility.

You and your neighbours will be told not to worry about carbon dioxide poisoning your water supplies. Yes, ruptures or large leaks of the gas could not only make the water undrinkable for you but also kill vegetation and aquatic life, the authorities will acknowledge, but inventors are working on new, improved technology that will prevent underground pipes and other infrastructure from leaking.

Village of Arcanum Resolution Against CO2 Sequestration

Arcanum, Ohio is located in Darke County, about 7 miles from Greenville, they have recently started their own branch of Citizens Against CO2 Sequestration to protect their area of the county. THANK YOU ARCANUM! And a huge thank you to the leadership for drafting a resolution to oppose CO2 Sequestration in Arcanum, Ohio!

Click on the photo to enlarge the resolution.