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Facts Refute Misleading Claims About Louisiana’s Carbon Sequestration Projects

C&E Responds To Disinformation Regarding Louisiana's Class VI Regulatory Program & Current CCS Projects

Contact: Patrick Courreges, 225-342-0510

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E) Secretary Dustin Davidson disputed certain claims and representations made in a recent document and accompanying press release published by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) organization.

The document which was compiled and cited by EIP includes a brief preface indicating the authors’ dislike of federal tax credits associated with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), followed by a lengthy list of existing or proposed projects that include many that have been cancelled, contain incorrect information, or have not begun any formal regulatory process. The document was published in conjunction with a press release containing several mischaracterizations and factually incorrect examples.

“We respect solid science and understand that there is concern among people to whom carbon sequestration, and injection practices in general, are new,” said Davidson. “However, it is our job to ensure that we correct any inaccuracies so that the public has a factual representation of what is being proposed.”

The release describes Ascension and Cameron parishes as “hard-hit” because carbon-related projects exist or have been proposed there. The inaccurate number of 65 proposed “carbon capture and storage” projects is presented without context as an inherently negative situation, noting that Ascension Parish is “intensely targeted.”

“There’s not much factual in this approach,” Davidson. “The department keeps an up-to-date list of projects via our website that the public may access at any time. The list is updated in real-time, and we recommend and encourage that the public cross reference that page for correct information.”

The EIP official quoted in the release, an attorney originally from Maine, noted that Louisiana has had thousands of oil and gas wells drilled in its history, saying it raises questions about potential leakage.

“We encourage EIP’s leaders to read our rules and regulations on Class VI carbon injection wells, because our technical staff raises exactly those questions when reviewing every application, and for more than just oil and gas wells, producing or plugged,” Davidson said. “Our Class VI program has the most stringent rules in the nation, surpassing even those of the EPA.”

Davidson said the release also complained that “permits are rushed” and that “the public is kept in the dark.” The claim of rushed permits stands in stark contrast to the document it accompanies, which notes that “only two carbon capture projects have begun operating in Louisiana and only one has received authorization to geologically sequester carbon.” Furthermore, the department has published guidance on its website outlining a perspective timeline of 18 to 24 months from administrative review to issuance of a permit to construct.

“I take particular exception to the unfounded claim that the public is ‘kept in the dark,’” Davidson said. “Transparency and open communication with the public are top priorities for this agency and this is why we have a web page dedicated to tracking all Class VI well applications and associated test wells. We have also accepted every invitation we have received from the public to explain our regulations and the protections we have in place.”

EIP also seeks to conflate the processes of carbon sequestration and use of carbon in enhanced oil recovery operations, which fall under very different sets of rules in Louisiana and are not considered the same operation.

“If members of the public have questions about Class VI injection practices and rules or even feel that the protections are not what they feel they should be, we are absolutely fine with that. What we will not stand for is out of state agitators using half-baked “research” to tell Louisianians what should and should not be allow in their state. If the public has questions, then I suggest they reach out to the actual experts at the department and reject the disinformation coming from groups whose entire mission is to cripple the state’s economy and destabilize local communities through deception and fear mongering,” Davidson said.

For information on C&E’s Class VI carbon sequestration program, including pending permit applications, FAQs, the program rules and other data, please visit our Class VI web page at https://www.denr.louisiana.gov/page/home-project-overview.

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