By Joyce Blumenshine

The Heart of Illinois Group Sierra Stands in Solidarity with the Concerned Residents of Hennepin

Eco-Justice Collaborative, Champaign, IL, has filed to the U.S. EPA Environmental Appeals Board to raise issues in the EPA approval of the Marquis Energy Class VI high-pressure carbon dioxide injection well. This is the first Class VI approval since the two 2014 Archer Daniels Midland sequestration wells in Decatur. Eco-Justice Collaborative has eleven issues in their filing for review, including:

• modeling defects
• monitoring and well-integrity shortfalls
• under-analyzed seismic risk
• an underground confining-zone determination at odds with the published geology
• public-process failures including highly redacted documents
• an unexamined interaction with the hazardous-waste plume at a closed steel plant about 1.25 miles to the west (276 million gallons of acidic steel plant waste were injected underground over the 1960s to 2009). A major concern is the Marquis CO2 injection could spread and interact with the hazardous waste or cause that waste to move unexpectedly.

Eco-Justice Collaborative asks the Environmental Appeals Board to stay or vacate the permit and remand it to Region 5 EPA for corrective action. For a more detailed presentation on the complaint see a two page summary of Eco-Justice Collaborative's appeal.

The Eco-Justice Collaborative worked extensively with Dr. Lindsey Gulden, PhD, Leg Up Data. The appeal was written by Dr. Gulden and Pam Richart, Co-Director, Eco-Justice Collaborative. Fundraising is underway for donations to help defray filing and legal costs ahead. See the Eco-Justice website for ways to help.