When Will the Company Answer to Population Public Health and Safety Hazards?

By Joyce Blumenshine

The existing, highly touted carbon dioxide pipeline run by Wolf Midstream in the Alberta, Canada, province, is 150 miles long, and in a remote area with very low population, listed in one source as about 5 people per square mile. In the United States, the related Wolf Carbon Solutions company in coordination with ADM, is proposing a 280 mile long CO2 pipeline which will run through much more populated areas.

The CO2 line is expected to enter Illinois north of Port Byron, located north of Moline, Rock Island County, which has a population per square mile (PPSM) of over 334 people. Peoria County, further south, has a PPSM of 293 people, with 3,591 people per square mile in the 61605 zip code residential area close to the pipeline coming into the city from the south. If the Wolf ADM Mt. Simon Hub pipeline crosses Bartonville on its way into Peoria, that PPSM is 280.

How will Wolf ADM address pipeline safety concerns? In public hearings before the Iowa Utilities Board in December, Wolf ADM joined with Navigator and another CO2 line company in refusing to show emergency response plans, risk assessments and modeling for ruptured CO2 pipeline disasters and asking that those reports not be required to be provided as a condition of the Iowa CO2 pipelines permit process.

For more information about CO2 pipelines, see CO2 Pipeline and Sequestration Companies Keeping Essential Information from Public View.