BRIMFIELD (25News Now) – More than 200 residents from Elmwood, Hanna City, Kickapoo and surrounding communities gathered at the Brimfield American Legion Sunday night to learn more about a proposed carbon dioxide storage project, and they expressed concerns about potential health and safety risks.
The community-organized meeting focused on a proposal involving Lapis Carbon Solutions and BioUrja Renewables to transport carbon dioxide from BioUrja’s ethanol facility in Peoria to an underground injection well near Texas Road in rural Peoria County.
The companies have outlined two potential transportation options: trucking the carbon dioxide directly to the injection site or transporting it by truck to a separate location before using a short pipeline for the final stretch.
During Sunday’s meeting, an environmental advocate discussed concerns involving drinking water contamination, transportation safety and the potential impact on nearby properties.
Tracy Fox, an environmental advocate with the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance, spoke about the potential health effects of exposure to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide.
“At 1%, you just start to get a little bit visually off, maybe feel tired,” Fox told the crowd.
“At a 3% concentration, people like me with high blood pressure and heart problems are going to be in more danger, but you get to 5%, you’re going to have dizziness, confusion, people are not really able to make decisions. And at 8%, you’re going to be unconscious and then die.”
Fox also discussed previous incidents involving carbon dioxide transportation and storage, including the 2020 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi, which resulted in evacuations and dozens of people requiring medical attention.
Other concerns raised during the meeting included the potential impact of underground carbon storage on local aquifers and private wells, the possibility of induced seismic activity and the safety of transporting compressed carbon dioxide.
“CO2 is much more difficult to contain into a pipeline. It needs all this compression equipment. If it gets involved with water, even in the smallest amount, it becomes highly corrosive which eats away at the pipeline, at the wells…,” said Fox.
“It also becomes highly dangerous when it is compressed, because CO2 is colorless, it’s odorless, and when it’s heavily compressed, it can shoot out…into an ice ball more likely, it’s going to displace oxygen, and creates really tragic consequences.”
Organizers encouraged residents to remain informed about the proposal and participate in the local regulatory process.
Next, residents plan to circulate petitions to gather signatures and attend upcoming Peoria County government meetings as they continue to raise concerns about the project.
No one spoke in favor of the project Sunday night. However, Lapis Director of Communications and External Affairs Ellen Schultz released this statement last week to 25News:
“Lapis Carbon Solutions and BioUrja Renewables are preparing to drill a stratigraphic test well and conduct a seismic survey in Peoria County. These activities will help us better understand the area’s subsurface geology and determine whether it may be suitable for carbon storage. No decisions about a potential project will be made until this evaluation is complete.”
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