The commonwealth can’t afford a big responsibility a state representative wants to give it. Rep. Eric Nelson (R-Westmoreland) wants to introduce legislation that would require the Commonwealth to assume the authority to permit and oversee carbon dioxide (CO2) injection wells.
We have more urgent things to do and we don’t have the funding to do them. Pennsylvania currently needs billions of dollars for cleanup projects targeted at orphaned and abandoned gas wells and coal mines across the state. Not only will these projects require massive funding streams, the current pollution issues they cause are damaging the state's economy and public health.
The proposal would create new oversight burdens for the notoriously underfunded Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), while prolonging our dependence on fossil fuels. Pennsylvania has far more pressing environmental priorities than taking on this expensive oversight of a risky fossil fuel technology.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the sole authority to permit these “Class VI Wells.” States can apply for authority for the permitting and enforcement of such wells. Just two states (North Dakota and Wyoming) have been given permission to permit CO2 injection wells. No injection wells have been constructed with state issued permits.
Here in the Commonwealth, DEP is simply incapable of taking on the added responsibilities of permitting highly sensitive CO2 injection wells. It doesn’t have the staff or the funding. Any suggestion this new program could be sustainably funded by injection well permit application fees is undermined by the crisis facing DEP’s Oil & Gas Program.
DEP is already struggling to plug orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells and to safely remediate the state’s vast network of legacy and modern coal mines.The O&G program is projecting multi-million dollar deficits.
Pennsylvania is estimated to have between 200,000 and 560,000 orphaned oil and gas wells. The state does not have the funds to locate and plug them. Even with the significant influx of federal funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Pennsylvania remains well short of the estimated $1.8 billion it would cost to plug just the 27,000 documented orphan gas wells in the state, which for decades have leaked air pollution, including methane — a potent greenhouse gas.
At the same time, Pennsylvania is home to a full one-third of the country’s legacy coal mines and requires another $1.25 billion just to remediate its modern coal mines. Pennsylvania currently has only 56-65% of those funds in bonds from coal companies. Meanwhile, there is a serious risk that more coal companies will declare bankruptcy and continue to abandon coal sites, further increasing the state’s financial burden for environmental cleanups.
DEP’s inability to address the existing challenges of gas wells and coal mines should be proof enough that the agency does not have the resources to take on additional permitting and oversight without putting the future of our communities and our environment at risk.
And the risks involved in injection wells are significant. They may damage the environment. And they may not work well anyway.
Injection wells can pose a significant threat to drinking water quality by disturbing existing water table geology, including sensitive underground soil and water formations. There is also significant risk and uncertainty about the security of long-term storage of carbon underground. These wells could leak the CO2 they are intended to sequester, rendering them useless. If they are to be used in Pennsylvania at all, permitting these wells at the federal level is the best way to ensure that they are safely constructed, operated, and plugged.
We must not repeat the mistake of haphazardly permitting polluting subsurface infrastructure that will cause legacy pollution issues. Pennsylvania’s fossil fuel industry doesn’t want to change its behavior. It will surely take advantage of a lax state permitting process for CO2 injection wells.
Rep. Nelson has been a vocal opponent of Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The initiative which would significantly reduce carbon emissions from fossil-fired power plants, while generating necessary proceeds to support the Commonwealth’s energy workforce and further improve our environment.
Instead, he proposes to rely on an expensive, risky CO2 reduction strategy that will cost taxpayers’ money and over-strain a DEP that’s already stretched too thin. Effective carbon capture has always been based on sustainable agriculture and forestry practices, not untested, costly injection wells. We can do better.
Joseph Otis Minott is the president of the Clean Air Action Fund.
First Published: April 11, 2022, 4:00 a.m.