The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Joy Swearingen, Quill correspondent
The large courtroom was used at the beginning of the Hancock County board meeting March 21, due to the number of people present speaking on both sides of the carbon dioxide pipeline issue.
A presentation was made by Lan and Pam Richart from Champaign, representing the Eco-Justice Collaborative, who opposed to building the CO2 pipeline that crosses through Hancock County.
Their information showed a pipeline rupture test and the effects of the pressurized CO2 as it was released. They gave information about the uncertainty of regulation of pipelines, and spoke to what counties could do to push back against the project.
Steve Hess, part of a six-generation McDonough County farm, described how the pipeline would impact his farmland as it continues east on beyond Hancock County.
“We want to make every acre as productive as possible,” Hess said. His cost is around $1,000 per acre to place patterned tiling in his field, and in the 80-acre field where the pipeline crosses, an estimated 30 tile lines would be cut. He described the loss of productivity in fields many years after other kinds of pipelines had disrupted fields and compacted soils.
Danielle Anderson, public affairs manager for Navigator, described how extracting CO2 is part of the process of manufacturing ethanol.
“I wanted to give you the ‘why’ of what we are doing, and how essential it is to the corn market here in Illinois and other places we are operating, to stay competitive,” Anderson said. She noted that while CO2 piping is new to the Midwest, it has been in existence since 1972 in western states.
Representatives from the heavy equipment operators union local #629 came to the meeting with signs, which stressed the value of local jobs created by the construction of the pipeline. He asked for a show of hands for those who had natural gas or electricity in their homes, noting these potentially dangerous situations are managed.
Other individuals the audience spoke with concern about these closeness of the pressurized pipeline to their homes, farms and churches, and the danger if there should be a break in the line.
Pete Dowdall, an 88-year-old farmer whose fields were disturbed by the Dakota natural gas pipelines several years ago, spoke of the continued lower yields and other problems, caused by that pipeline.
Later in the meeting, the board voted for Hancock County to continue with a group opposing the pipeline. The county has paid around $21,000 so far in legal fees to be part of the group. It was estimated another $30,000 would be needed in the coming years.
“The whole premise of this CO2 pipeline is based on a false climate concern by the government and EPA,” said board member Steve Lucie.
“The overall theme here is government becoming larger and taking over local control. Eminent domain was not designed for a pipeline to go through our land carrying a waste product.
In the world there are other countries that are far worse for CO2 emissions, and I don’t think that should be on the backs of Hancock County tax payers.”