(UnitedVoice.com) – A plan is currently in development to bring the first fertilizer plant to Indiana. The Wabash Valley Resources facility will allegedly use technology to create fertilizer in a process that promises to create no carbon dioxide. Not everyone is convinced the plant will be safe.
In August, Universal, Indiana, residents demanded answers from officials with the Wabash Valley Resources. The facility plans to produce anhydrous ammonia and hydrogen for fertilizer using a process that will capture and store the resulting carbon dioxide in two wells.
The company is asking officials for permits to build two wells that will be located in Vigo and Vermillion counties. Each year, the plant will inject 1.67 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the wells. That will continue for 12 years. Regulators working for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have given the project a green light and claim there shouldn’t be a significant environmental impact. Agents will monitor the wells over the course of the 12 years and the plant for 10 years after the injections are complete to ensure the wells are working properly.
About 150 residents attended a hearing held at Indiana State University to ask officials questions. They wanted to know if there was a potential risk of carbon dioxide contaminating the groundwater. They were also worried about an accident occurring that could cause a massive carbon dioxide leak into the atmosphere. Their concerns are warranted.
In 2020, a 24-inch pipeline carrying liquified carbon dioxide burst near Satartia, Mississippi. The accident came after months of rain causing the ground around the structure to move and the pipe itself to break. The CO2 made its way toward the town as emergency workers rushed to evacuate about 200 people. Authorities revealed that 45 people received medical attention.
Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson said the plans for the plant in Indiana are “insane.”
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