Largest carbon capture in world

Drilling will begin this month in Lake Maurepas - located about halfway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge - to conduct geological tests for the site where millions of tons of carbon, produced by a proposed hydrogen manufacturing complex, would be stored deep underground. 

Meanwhile, residents and government leaders continue to protest the project, fearing damage to the environment and harm to local residents' livelihoods. 

Air Products, a global gas company, plans to open the complex in Ascension Parish in 2026 and send its carbon emissions down a 37-mile pipeline to Lake Maurepas.

That's where the waste will be injected into the earth about a mile below the lake’s bottom rather than emitted into the atmosphere. 

The firm says the project will sequester about 95% of its carbon emissions below ground, totaling over 5M tons annually. 

It will be the largest carbon capture operation in the world. 

In order to obtain the necessary permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to build carbon injection wells in the lake, Air Products must first conduct geological testing to ensure the ground can handle carbon injections. 

It completed seismic testing in July. A temporary rig was deployed on the Southern side of the lake over the weekend. 

Drilling will begin in mid-August and expected to be completed by the end of October depending on weather conditions, the company said. 

A second injection well on the north side of Lake Maurepas is pending permit approval from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. 

“Safety is at the heart of everything we do ... and this next phase of pore space assessment is critical to ensuring it’s suitable before any CO2 is permanently stored,” Andrew Connolly, Air Products’ VP/GM of low-carbon hydrogen projects, said in a statement. 

The company will surround the rig with an orange buoy line - and signage - to protect boaters, located 500 feet from the rig. 

Air Products also post regular project updates on the company website and social media. 

However, local officials and residents haven’t stopped protesting since last year at parish council meetings and state permit hearings to ask that the lake be left alone. 

Much of the sentiment expressed concerned the project moving too fast, the lack of transparency and it hasn’t taken note of potential risks to natural wildlife and recreational boaters. 

“What’s very frustrating is that we are citizens trying to fight for our lake, and you feel like it’s on deaf ears,” said Laurie Sagnibene, a Baton Rouge resident with a home on the Tickfaw River. “

 A spokesperson for Air Products said that, after the seismic study, an independent environmental monitor surveyed the lake’s wildlife and found a fish mortality rate of .229 ounces per acre - very small amount, according to the company. 

Air Products is working with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for a plan on how to restock the lake, as required by law. 

Air Products has made other attempts to alleviate local concerns, including informational meetings and a seismic test demonstration, though the efforts have failed to assuage protesters.

Carbon capture has become a hotly debated political topic.

Environmental advocates detest the technology, but Gov. John Bel Edwards and pro-industry leaders alike continue to consider carbon capture a necessity to meet net-zero carbon emissions goals. (NOLA.com 08/06/23) Air Products to drill injection well in Lake Maurepas | Environment | nola.com