Illinois Commerce Commission Staff Recommends Rejection of Wolf CO2 Pipeline Permit

The staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has recommended in an official filing that commissioners reject a carbon pipeline permit application from Wolf Carbon Solutions, which has partnered with ethanol producer ADM on a proposed CO2 pipeline that would terminate in Illinois.

The ICC staff’s recommendation of a rejection for the Wolf project follows its earlier similar recommendation that the ICC reject a proposed carbon pipeline permit application from Navigator CO2 Ventures, which withdrew its permit application before the ICC just a week before evidentiary hearings were set to begin — and announced last week that it was cancelling its pipeline project entirely.

In the ICC’s filing on Wolf, staffer Brett Seagle documents that Wolf has secured zero agreements with CO2 sources, which is a necessary prerequisite for considering a permit application. Seagle also documents that Wolf has also reported zero agreements for underground sequestration space to store CO2, and also tellingly — the company reports that it has obtained zero easements with any landowners, despite being in the field with land agents pursuing easements since June.

The ICC staff said that Wolf submitted a “centerline” pipeline corridor of a half-mile on either side, when ICC rules dictate that the corridor must be 200 feet, and as a result a large number of additional impacted landowners were required to be given notice, which Wolf failed to do properly.

The ICC staff said that Wolf has not provided any Emergency Response Plan, and that it would not be made available until 60 days before start of construction.

Finally, the ICC staff recommended that CO2-related permit applications be held until the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) releases updated safety rules on CO2 pipelines, expected to be released sometime next year.

23-0475 Wolf Carbon Seagle Direct and Attachments 1.0.Final