On July 11, the House-- by a vote of 127 to 75-- and the Senate-- by a vote of 37 to 12-- passed and sent to the Governor Senate Bill 831 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) establishing a framework for authorizing the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide through injection wells.

The House amended the bill to public land protections, environmental justice (enabling rejection of projects with undue impact on overburdened communities), community engagement, landowner rights (raising consent threshold from 60% to 75% and preventing surface use), preventative induced seismicity management requirements, extending the default post-injection site care period to 50 years, and enabling the Department of Environmental Protection to promulgate and enforce additional regulations as needed to protect the people and environment of the Commonwealth.

The amendment was supported by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and Clean Air Task Force.  Read more here.

Reactions

On June 24, the Better Path Coalition submitted a letter on behalf of 42 organizations and 46 concerned citizens to House Speaker McClinton and the House Consumer Protection Committee expressing concern over plans for a vote on Senate Bill 831 related to geologic carbon sequestration without holding a hearing or taking into consideration the many consequential matters not included in the bill.

“It’s not a question of if something will go wrong, but when,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition The group circulated a letter to members of the legislature and Governor Shapiro to point out the many knowledge gaps that remain with Carbon Capture and Storage, a technology that has never worked successfully. “The eminent domain provision is in the bill because nobody knows where the CO2 plume will go after it is injected underground. Less is known about CCS than was known about fracking when it came to Pennsylvania. Countless victims and thousands of peer-reviewed studies later, we’re still learning about its adverse impacts. Tonight, the legislature ignored the lesson of fracking, so here we go again.”

“Several House members from both parties and Senator Katie Muth spoke powerfully against SB831 before the votes were cast. If only their colleagues would have had the good sense to listen to them. The vote was a victory for the fossil fuel industry and all those who do its bidding, make no mistake about it,” said Feridun.

Click Here for a copy of the letter and a list of organizations signing the letter.

“Untested and poorly regulated carbon dioxide injection wells are now coming to your private property, whether you refuse them or not, thanks to Harrisburg politicians and special interests, said Alexander G. Bomstein, Esq., Clean Air Council Executive Director. “The state has not even examined whether carbon dioxide storage can be done safely and securely in Pennsylvania's fracked and drilled-through geology. This sweeping bill sets up Pennsylvania residents to be unwilling guinea pigs for a large-scale experiment which is not environmentally beneficial and which Pennsylvania government does not understand.”

“It is profoundly disappointing to witness supposed allies in the legislature vote in favor of this disastrous bill,” said Megan McDonough, Pennsylvania Director of Food & Water Watch. “The passage of the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act is not just upsetting; it’s a betrayal of our trust and a sell out to corporate interests. By promoting the injection of carbon dioxide underground under the guise of ‘benefiting the environment,’ lawmakers have ignored the glaring truth: this legislation opens the floodgates for unchecked exploitation and environmental degradation. It’s a slap in the face to every Pennsylvanian who expects their elected officials to safeguard our health, our communities, and our future. This reckless decision will haunt us for years to come.”

Larry J. Schweiger, former head of the National Wildlife Federation, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and executive director of the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution and Conservation Committee, told DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council on July 9--

“I believe [Senate Bill 831]  introduces a significantly impactful environmental policy but lacks the necessary safeguards for such a large-scale experiment. This legislation should not be rushed and requires thorough public hearings and robust safeguards to mitigate potential risks.

“Senate Bill 831 creates a deficient legal structure for carbon capture and geologic carbon sequestration within the Commonwealth. This bill wrongly treats stored carbon dioxide as an asset, not a liability, even though CO2 will be stored in perpetuity in porous rock formations.

“While injecting CO2 in concrete can produce value-added building materials, like concrete aggregate, this option is far more available than recovering sequestered CO2.

“When compressed into a supercritical phase, CO2 behaves like a fluid when injected into porous rock formations.

“Ideally, its plume becomes physically contained in the pore spaces and eventually reacts to form stable minerals over geologic time.

“The process of carbon mineralization, which occurs over thousands of years, is a testament to the magnitude and complexity of the task at hand.

“A carbon sequestration study in New Mexico’s Bravo Dome, where sequestration began more than a million years ago, found that only 20% of the CO2 has dissolved into the field’s saline brine over 1.2 million years, while the rest remains as a free gas trapped by the caprock.

“This research underscores the urgent need to address the potential liabilities of carbon storage for multiple generations.

“In a region where widespread fracking has undoubtedly destabilized geologic formations, a geologic failure of a formation containing stored carbon dioxide could be lethal.

“We have a vivid example from a natural source.

"On August 21, 1986, a massive release of carbon dioxide from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, West Africa, killed between 1,700 and 1,800 people and many animals.

“The cloud was heavy since CO2 is denser than air, displacing oxygen at high concentrations.

“Victims died from carbon dioxide asphyxiation, with clinical findings in survivors showing signs of exposure to an asphyxiant gas." In another example, in Satartia, Mississippi, a pipeline carrying carbon dioxide ruptured, sending 49 people to the hospital complaining of labored breathing, stomach disorders, and mental confusion.

“This practice could be widespread in a carbon-constrained world. Since carbon dioxide is collected and pumped under high pressure into porous formations, a failure of a formation could eventually erupt into the atmosphere, posing uncertain environmental and public health risks.

“Here are just a couple of concerns that need to be legislatively addressed--

--  “Experimentally, pumping CO2 for permanent storage must be declared an "Ultrahazardous Activity" by statute. The actions of individuals and entities that inject CO2 into geologic formations involve a high level of long-term danger, so this activity must carry strict liability.

“By its nature, ultrahazardous activity cannot avoid the possibility of damaging property or individuals. Therefore, the Commonwealth must hold defendants strictly liable for any

damages resulting from the ultrahazardous activity, meaning no negligence must be proven.

-- “This bill severely restricts surface landowners' rights. It does not require surety bonding, liability insurance, or rebuttable presumptions and limits punitive damages.

“Homeowners and others living on top of carbon storage are at the highest risk, and they must not be constrained from seeking punitive damages or be required to prove negligence.

“The bill shifts the legal burden to the impacted surface property owner and simply does not address any individuals who are not property owners who may be harmed by leaking CO2.

“The bill says, “A surface property interest owner, subsurface property interest owner, or lessee may not seek punitive damages due to the injection or migration of carbon dioxide if the storage operator is determined to have had a reasonable basis for believing that the carbon sequestration project would not migration of carbon dioxide beyond the storage facility.”

“Surface landowners and others harmed by a failed CO2 storage project are burdened by Senate Bill 831 and their risks are not adequately addressed.

-- “The bill, by default, transfers long-term liabilities in perpetuity to the Commonwealth, thus privatizing profits while socializing profound risks. Commonwealth taxpayers should not

perpetually accept the liability.

“The Commonwealth has a long history of accepting massive social liabilities while special interests enjoy private profits.

“When the legislature passed the 1937 Clean Streams Act it exempted mine drainage. Today, we have 2,500 miles of polluted waters that the Commonwealth must pick up the tab to clean up, if ever.

“When the Gas Operations Well-Drilling Petroleum and Coal Mining Act was adopted in 1955, it protected mines under well drilling but failed to address well sealing and other environmental issues.

“The Commonwealth has repeatedly failed to properly address financial accountability for sealing [oil and gas] wells. With widespread “five spottings,” perhaps as many as 750,000 orphan unsealed wells still exist.

“Plugging orphan wells could cost as much as nineteen billion dollars. With this history, why would the Commonwealth let others privatize profits while socializing enormous liabilities?

“The legislation charges the Environmental Quality Board with establishing fees for sequestration. Still, it does not create provisions for endowing sufficient funds to address the long-term risks that the Commonwealth and future generations will inherit.

“Blue hydrogen is a heavily subsidized program to placate Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia coal mine owner who chaired the Energy Committee and opposed the [federal] Inflation Reduction Legislation without this authorization.

“The theory is that gas can be fracked, transported by long-distance pipelines, pressurized in diesel pumping stations, and then converted to hydrogen through a cracking process with some level of CO2 capture (50% to 87%) with the captured CO2 then be transported by pipeline and pumped high pressurized to be stored in perpetuity.

That all of this can be economically competitive with clean energy is a pipe dream advanced by the fossil fuel industry.

“Take away all the Federal and state subsidies and the transference of risks; clean energy wins every time.

“Carbon capture and storage are not economically competitive approaches, so the industry has long fought against clean energy.

“As currently written, Senate Bill 831 authorizes an unproven ultra-hazardous practice on fractured lands while inadequately addressing risks. I could list other flaws in the bill, but I believe it deserves far more scrutiny than it currently receives.

“As someone who has been deeply concerned about climate change for decades, I know this is not the way to go.”

Click Here for a copy of Schweiger’s comments.

NewsClips:

-- Erie News Now/AP: Pennsylvania Authorizes Regulations For Carbon Capture Wells

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Environmental Groups Warn Fast-Tracking Carbon Capture A Mistake In Pennsylvania 

--  Pittsburgh Business Times: Bill Would Regulate Carbon Capture, Storage In Wells Underground, But Environmentalists Are Pushing Back

Related Articles - Budget:

-- Final State Budget Includes $50 Million For Clean Streams Fund; New SPEED Permit Review Program; Support For DEP Oil & Gas Program  [PaEN]

-- PA Lawmakers, Groups Celebrate Passage Of Solar For Schools Bipartisan Solar Energy Initiative  [PaEN]

-- House, Senate Send Bill Authorizing Geologic Sequestration Of Carbon Dioxide To The Governor  [PaEN]

-- House, Senate Give Final, Unanimous Approval To Changes In Anti-SLAPP Bill Designed To Stop Lawsuits Restricting Public Participation, Free Speech  [PaEN]

[Posted: July 12, 2024]

7/15/2024