Livingston Parish Council members approved a 12-month moratorium on injection wells and disposal wells used for carbon capture at their meeting Thursday, WAFB-TV reports.
It’s unclear what impact the moratorium might have, as the federal government, not the parish, has the primary authority to regulate carbon capture wells.
But it does reflect local concerns about such projects, such as Air Products’ planned $4.5 billion blue hydrogen project in Ascension Parish, which would include a pipeline under Lake Maurepas in Livingston Parish to store leftover carbon from the production process. Concerns raised at Thursday’s meeting include drinking water contamination and the effect on the lake’s ecosystem.
The blue hydrogen project and its accompanying carbon capture components is part of a growing trend in investment from petrochemical companies in Louisiana as reported in the latest edition of Business Report.
Carbon capture also has federal backing. The Biden administration, using funding authorized by the recent bipartisan federal infrastructure law, plans to spend $2.6 billion on carbon capture demonstration projects and regional pipeline networks to transport CO2 for permanent storage or conversion into other end uses such as construction materials.
