54th District State Senator Steve McClure is pushing for legislation in the Illinois General Assembly to delay any construction permits for building carbon dioxide pipelines in the state for at least 2 years, or until the federal government revises safety standards for CO2 pipelines.
McClure says the legislation, which has largely been constituent driven, derives from a rupture of a CO2 pipeline in Satartia, Mississippi in February 2020 that made over 40 people sick. McClure’s district now has two pending CO2 pipeline projects, including the Heartland Greenway project. Heartland Greenway is expected to cut across both of McClure’s current and former district. He says he’s opposed to the pipeline: “I’ve been dealing with calls for months with people that are living along the pipeline’s proposed route, people that will live near the pipeline that are concerned about their safety and the safety of their families if a pipeline is installed and it ruptures just like it did in Mississippi. Because of those concerns, I had some constituents that were asking me to file legislation that would put a 2-year moratorium on any CO2 pipelines until we can be assured that the pipeline is going to be safe and not rupture. So, I thought that was a reasonable piece of legislation. I still have very big concerns about the pipeline. I’m against the pipeline itself, but I also had to put this bill out there because I know that no one may be able to stop the pipeline. And, if we can’t stop the pipeline, at least we can have more protections put in place.”
McClure’s legislation has received bipartisan support from different parts of the state with Lincoln Republican Sally Turner and Joliet Democrat Rachel Ventura joining on as co-sponsors to the legislation.
McClure’s bill was introduced to the Senate during the recent Spring session of the General Assembly but was never called out of committee hearings. McClure says he’s unsure if the bill will be called to the floor for a vote for the General Assembly’s upcoming Fall Veto Session this October.