Environmentalists and landowners are fighting an expected move by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to give the green light to a controversial carbon dioxide sequestration project running through Central Illinois.
WMAY reports that the Army Corps is gearing up to allow the Navigator Heartland Greenway pipeline project to proceed with a comprehensive environmental review. The Sierra Club and the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines says the move would use a “nationwide” permitting process for the pipeline. The nationwide process was designed to facilitate smaller projects with minimal impacts. According to the Coalition, the process would allow permitting by breaking the pipeline up into 1800 separate projects.
Both groups say this type of process is not suitable for such a large project, and would allow for no public comment to be entered into the record.
The proposed pipeline would cover more than 1300 miles, including all or portions of Adams, Brown, Christian, Fulton, Hancock, McDonough, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler and Scott counties.
The groups are calling on the Army Corps to reconsider its plan and require a full environmental analysis of the project. Both the Coalition and the Sierra Club are offering form letters to send to the Army Corps of Engineers in opposition.