BOLD Nebraska

Top Reasons to Oppose CO2 Injection Wells in Nebraska:

• Property Rights
• CO2 Leaks and Safety
• Drinking Water Endangerment
• Aquifer Contamination Risks
• Increased Energy Costs
• 45Q Tax Credit $$$ Giveaway

The “Carbon Capture” Scheme

• Can seek to use eminent domain to acquire “pore space” underneath landowners’ property to inject CO2 under their homes
• CO2 is a toxic asphyxiant. A pipeline rupture can spread a lethal plume of CO2 over two miles, displacing oxygen.
• CO2 can escape along injection or monitoring wells, abandoned wells, or through cracks in the caprock. There is no guarantee that CO2 can be permanently sequestered for hundreds of years without it leaking. If it leaks, it can contaminate drinking water with heavy metals.
• CCS increases water use by up to 55% for each capture site. Much of this is used for cooling
• Carbon capture requires 13-44% more energy, increasing electricity costs by 25-50%
• CCS requires tax credits (“45Q”) in order to be economically viable, equating to hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars given away

Bold Alliance was an original signatory to a 2024 letter, “EPA Must Immediately Stop CO2 Injection Wells to Protect Public Safety and Drinking Water,” that calls on EPA to suspend permits for injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) underground, permitting of new CO2 injection wells, approval of primacy applications for CO2 injection wells, and to direct states with primacy over injection wells to halt injections and permitting of wells.

Our demands in the letter stemmed from:

1) multiple leaks of CO2 and equipment failures at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) facility in Decatur, Illinois;

2) new information about an increase in non-compliance violations in Texas Class II wells starting in 2011;

3) a higher percentage of Class II Texas CO2 injection wells that have failed one or more mechanical integrity tests when these wells are compared to other Class II wells; and

4) findings at EPA that steel used for well construction at the ADM site, and others around the country, is prone to corrosion in CO2 injection wells.

The events at the ADM facility have brought to light systemic problems with CCS technology and its regulation, raising serious concerns that CCS is neither safe nor viable. Reported failures at monitoring and detection systems due to corrosion and the migration of CO2 outside the intended storage zone expose multiple levels of failure. What is perhaps more concerning is that EPA has identified that injection wells around the country have the same design and material flaws that led to corrosion at at least one of ADM’s leaking wells, raising concerns that CO2 injection wells could very well be leaking significant quantities of CO2 into groundwater and the atmosphere.

Aquifer & Drinking Water Contamination

The threat to drinking water and public health posed by CO2 injection wells cannot be overstated given that leaks from the injection of CO2 into underground saline formations can migrate into overlying freshwater aquifers and be released into the atmosphere.

Once CO2 dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the water, eroding and corroding rock and well equipment, and mobilizing toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. These metals are particularly concerning for drinking water sources near injection sites.

CO2 Pipeline & Equipment Ruptures

The release of CO2 into the atmosphere adversely impacts our climate. Even at relatively low concentrations, it can impair cognitive, cardiovascular, neurologic, hearing, and vision function through asphyxiation and toxicity as was, in part, demonstrated by a CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi that sent dozens of people to the hospital and highlighted the challenges to first responders needing to respond to CO2 releases into the atmosphere.

Earthquakes

Another serious concern associated with CO2 sequestration is induced seismicity from injecting CO2 underground, which can cause fractures and re-activate faults, either of which can result in additional pathways for CO2 migration.

Scientists have expressed concern that injecting larger volumes of CO2, at higher pressures and for longer duration associated with CCS has an even higher probability of inducing earthquakes. But, U.S. EPA Class VI permitting does not address induced earthquakes.

Lack of Proper Regulation & Oversight

In combination with malfunctioning equipment, the injections can create unpredictable and widespread impacts from leaks on the water we drink and the air we breathe. EPA’s oversight of carbon dioxide injection wells is lacking in general, and is highlighted by the lack of transparency and oversight relating to these well failures.

These concerns are not limited to Class VI wells like the one operated by ADM, but extend to Class II wells, a much larger universe of thousands of potential injection sites across the country used to extract oil. The practice of injecting CO2 into these wells carries many of the same risks associated with Class VI wells used for CCS; however, the regulations governing Class II wells are less stringent, posing an even greater risk of leaks.

The risks associated with carbon capture and storage, particularly the injection of CO2 into Class II and Class VI wells, are too great to ignore. The recent events at the ADM facility in Decatur are a warning sign that current regulatory practices are inadequate.

45Q Tax Credit for Carbon Capture is an $800 Billion Giveaway

A blank check that increases the federal deficit: The 45Q program that is the financial lynchpin for these Carbon Capture and Storage projects has no financial cap making it an unlimited tax dollar giveaway. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis studied announced CCS projects and found that, if all these projects are constructed, 45Q tax credit claims between now and 2042 would total approximately $835 billion. If Congress extends the 45Q tax credit to allow continued use of these facilities beyond their first 12 years of operation, the total call on federal dollars could be in the trillions.

Nebraska Seeking “Primacy” From U.S. EPA to Regulate CO2 Injection Wells

Nebraska has applied to the U.S. EPA to take over the regulation, including granting of permits and monitoring of CO2 injection wells in the state. If the EPA grants Nebraska’s application, that would mean the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy & Environment (DWEE NE) would instead be tasked with oversight of the entire process.

CO2 Threats to Nebraska: Aquifer Contamination

There are currently applications pending for carbon injection wells in some far western Nebraska panhandle counties, a location that also includes the High Plains Aquifer and secondary aquifers:

CO2 Threats to Nebraska: Earthquakes

University of Nebraska: Seismicity in Nebraska and adjacent states: The historical perspective and current trends

“A sudden spike in earthquake events has been observed in central Nebraska. Since April 2018, 26 earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes from 2.7 to 4.1 occurred, clustered tightly in Custer County. A similar cluster of 24 earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes from 2.6 to 3.7 occurred in Jewell County in northern Kansas in 2017. We have compiled an earthquake database for Nebraska and parts of adjacent states from different sources to determine whether these recent earthquake spikes are consistent with historic seismicity. We identified two historic earthquake clusters occurring in our study area. The first contained 32 events and was active in Red Willow County in southwestern Nebraska from 1977 to 1982. As it coincides spatially with the Sleepy Hollow oil field, it may be related to enhanced oil recovery from that field, although it is also located at the edge of the Chadron-Cambridge Arch. The second historical earthquake cluster is located in Pawnee and Richardson counties in southwestern Nebraska and includes eight earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes of 2.3 to 2.8 that occurred in a period from 1982 to 1989 over the Nemaha uplift and appear to be related to the Humboldt fault. We note an increase in both maximum magnitude, as well as in the cumulative seismic moment per cluster with time.”

Induced Earthquakes
Injection of CO2 also can induce earthquakes large enough to damage the wellbore or break the caprock. We know injecting produced water from oil and gas production far below groundwater or aquifers causes earthquakes:

• 5.2 M earthquake in TX in November 2023, the 4th largest in the state.
• At least 10 earthquakes occurred in OK on the same day in January 2024, the largest of which was 4.3.

Scientists have expressed concern that injecting larger volumes of CO2, at higher pressures and for longer duration associated with CCS has an even higher probability of inducing earthquakes. But, U.S. EPA Class VI permitting does not address induced earthquakes.

Abandoned wells – another path for leakage
There are thousands of oil and gas wells across central and southern Illinois. This map shows only “orphaned wells” – unplugged wells – which total over 4,000.  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says they believe there are more than 32,000 oil & gas wells in Illinois, but acknowledges they don’t know where all of them are:

• Old wells can provide a pathway for CO2 to escape containment and rise to the surface.
• Even “plugged wells” are at risk – carbonic acid can erode cement.

An old well released CO2 near a Wyoming school in 2017, requiring evacuation & school shutdown for months.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Supercritical CO2 is highly pressurized. Once injected underground, it moves both laterally and vertically, putting pressure on weak spots of the containment area.

We don’t have a lot of history to show success:

• It took 27 years before a CCS project in Norway began to leak and cause concern 

• ADM has been sequestering CO2 for 12 years, but it is a small project storing an average of just 420,000 tons each year since 2016 (less than 1/2 of what was promised).

Projects in Illinois now being reviewed by the U.S. EPA are nearly 100 times the size of ADM’s Decatur project. One Earth Sequestration LLC’s application shows it’s project would be 23 times the size.

How can we be sure CO2 won’t leak? We can’t.

The post Don’t Let Nebraska Become a CO2 Waste Dump appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

Bold is offering local organizers the opportunity to host their own phone banks for our endorsed candidates, and providing our hosts with a “Phonebank ToGo” kit that includes t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and gift cards to buy snacks for your phone bankers!

Fill out the form below to organize your Phonebank ToGo and Bold will arrange to drop off your supply basket. 

Phonebank ToGo Supply Kit includes: 

• Instructions
• Invitation graphic to share on social media
• BOLD Shirts for you and your pals
• Gift card for Dinner and or Snacks
• Gift Card for Butterfly Bakery
• Stickers and Pencils
• Thank you gift for the PhoneBank ToGo Host

How to Organize Your Phonebank ToGo:

1. Choose a BOLD Endorsed Candidate to host a phonebank for:
   Brian Seck
   SuAnn Witt
   Rick Vest
   George Dungan
   Sean Flowerday
   Jess Goldoni
   Carol Blood
   Sara Kohen
   Cindy Johnson
   Cindy Maxwell Ostdiek
2. Pick your date and time!
3. Invite your friends. (This is a virtual phone bank, so you can phone bank from anywhere.)
4. Submit t-shirt sizes for you and all your volunteers on the form
5. We will deliver your PhoneBank ToGo supply basket

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The post Be a BOLD Volunteer: Host a Phonebank appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

Join us for a fall gathering of Keystone XL Pipeline Fighters. We have defeated this pipeline 3 times now… and it’s NOT coming back!

• WHAT: Fall Gathering of Keystone XL Pipeline Fighters
• WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 7, 11am – 4pm
• WHERE: KC Hall, 106 S. Sherrill St., Atkinson, NE
• *PLEASE RSVP* via Text or Email:
  402-340-8548
  bdsteskal@gmail.com

Bring your Favorite Dish to Share! Tableware, Napkins, & Drinks Provided!

“Good Food is all the sweeter when shared with good Friends.”

The post Fall Gathering of Keystone XL Pipeline Fighters (Potluck) appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

For those who have been following Bold’s work since the Keystone XL days, you might remember that in 2013, we built a barn, powered by wind and solar, directly in the path of the KXL route.

More than a decade later, pipeline fighters and water protectors Art and Helen Tanderup have decided it’s time to do it again.

Art and Helen are building a “Hope Barn” on their land in honor of all that has been accomplished through unlikely alliances and the resistance to KXL.

It will also serve as a working barn for Art and Helen, but just like in previous years, we will invite people to occasional workshops, tree dedication ceremonies, and Ponca corn plantings.

In late September, Stacy Laravie of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska led the land blessing with a small group of invited water protectors and pipeline fighters.

While we still have a ways to go, we’ll need helping hands on various build days, and again when it’s time to install solar – so stay tuned for dates, and don’t forget to bring your work gloves.

The post Help the Tanderups Build the Hope Barn appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

Have you heard about the dangerous Summit Carbon pipeline proposed across the state of Nebraska?

WHAT: Landowners Meeting: Know Your Rights!

WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6:00 p.m. CT

Join by computer: Click at 6pm: https://bit.ly/summitnebraska

Join by phone: 312-626-6799
MEETING ID: 895 7619 3073

Summit Carbon Solutions would have to use eminent domain to route a dangerous pipeline carrying carbon dioxide (CO2), a known asphyxiant, across the entire state of Nebraska.

An attorney and organizers with the Nebraska Easement Action Team landowners’ legal co-op will provide an overview of the project, explain landowners’ rights, and answer questions.

The Nebraska Easement Action Team (NEAT), a project of Bold, works to educate landowners and to support organizing those who are opposed to eminent domain for private gain, providing property rights education, and strategic landowner legal challenges to proposed pipeline projects, including constitutional challenges and condemnation litigation.