Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
10/3/2014
The Environmental Protection Agency late last week approved a Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit for Archer Daniels Midland’s Illinois Industrial CCS Project (Ill-ICCS). The permit allows ADM to construct a well for the injection of carbon dioxide more than 5,000 feet underground into the Mount Simon geologic formation for permanent storage. The permit is one of the first of its type ever issued, following four FutureGen 2.0 Class VI UIC permits approved early last month. ADM can begin drilling the well in November, according to an EPA release issued late last week. However, the release notes, “ADM must demonstrate the integrity of the well before injecting carbon dioxide and conduct extensive monitoring at the location.” Barring any appeals, the permit should become final before the end of the year.
The Ill-ICCS Project will amp up operations from ADM’s Illinois Basin-Decatur Project (IBDP), which is currently underway injecting 1 million tonnes of CO2 underground over three years operating under an Illinois EPA Class 1 non-hazardous UIC permit. Following the completion of the IBDP, the Ill-ICCS will begin injection at a commercial scale of approximately 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 every year for five years for a total of roughly 5.5 million tonnes at the end of the project. Carbon dioxide from the IBDP Project is also being injected in the Mt. Simon geologic formation, but at a different location. “A significant benefit of these complementary projects is the opportunity to study the interaction between the CO2 plumes and pressure fronts emanating from two injection wells in the same sandstone formation,” a Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute fact sheet notes.
A Class VI permit is also being pursued for the IBDP project. Currently, that permit application is being reviewed by the EPA, but is expected to move into the next phase of approval soon. More than 900,000 tonnes of CO2 have already been injected in the project under the Illinois EPA Class 1 non-hazardous UIC permit and the project will be completed upon reaching one million tonnes. Injection at the IBDP project began in November 2011 and is expected to reach completion in coming months. Once the IBDP Project is completed, facilities which were built for that project will be integrated into the Ill-ICCS project.
