Dr. Kathleen Campbell spoke in front of the Springfield City Council in June to express opposition to plans for drilling of a test well by University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s Prairie Research Institute in partnership with City Water, Light and Power. Campbell, an emeritus professor at SIU School of Medicine and a Glenarm resident, lives roughly 5 miles from the test site – a rural plot off Pond Road in Pawnee.
“I urge you to postpone, and preferably reconsider, the installation of this well,” Campbell told the council. “Though we are not CWLP customers, my neighbors and I are expected to bear the risk of a future carbon sequestration project. Experience tells us those risks are real.”
In simple terms, the process of carbon sequestration involves taking carbon dioxide – either from the atmosphere or captured directly at the site of emissions from power plants like CWLP’s Dallman – and inserting it thousands of feet underground.
The UIUC project at hand does not involve building a pipeline or injecting carbon into the earth, although it would provide information needed to implement future carbon sequestration projects. The test well will drill deep into the ground for samples and research.
The scientists working on the project say drilling the test well will provide valuable information about the geology of the area, including potential uses of the region for geothermal energy, natural gas storage and oil extraction. It will also provide information about potential sites for any future sequestration projects in the area, should CWLP or commercial entities seek to drill an injection well.
Data collected through the project “will be used to determine the feasibility of geologic sequestration of 50 million tonnes or more of carbon dioxide that will be injected over 30 years,” according to a pre-drilling site assessment obtained through a public records request.
Many experts consider carbon sequestration to be an important piece of the puzzle in mitigating global warming.
The fight for net zero
Carbon dioxide emissions are released into the atmosphere primarily by burning fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it traps the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, causing changes in weather patterns. The impact can already be seen, with more intense storms, droughts, wildfires and rising sea levels.
Reaching net zero emissions means reducing carbon dioxide emissions to a low enough level that emissions can be absorbed by natural systems or other mechanisms for removing carbon from the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other scientific organizations have identified carbon storage as one way to move toward that goal.
Campbell, who sought the cancellation of the test well, is not a climate change denialist. Rather, she wanted the City Council to consider the potential risks that come with the transportation and injection of carbon.
Transporting large quantities of carbon most often requires pipelines. If pipelines break, they can release carbon back into the atmosphere, causing severe health risks to those near the leak, including suffocation from the lack of oxygen. When a pipeline burst in Satartia, Mississippi, in 2020, it hospitalized dozens of residents and caused 250 others to evacuate. The gas also prevents combustion engines from functioning, hindering emergency response in the event of a major leak.
“We’re dealing with risk and doing so under the guise of a climate solution,” said Pam Richart, co-founder of the Champaign-based Eco-Justice Collaborative, which has fought to stop pipelines and injection projects.
Other energy solutions, like wind and solar, are more viable and less expensive to implement than carbon sequestration, according to Richart and other experts interviewed.
‘Little viability’ of storage for Dallman
Seismic testing, the last step before drilling the test well, was set to end late last month. UIUC scientists said they had not yet procured a rig, but that they expect to begin drilling the test well this winter.
The well drilled by UIUC and partners this winter will not be used for any future carbon storage projects, according to assistant reservoir geologist Kendall Taft. The test well will not even be drilled in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for a Class VI well – the type needed for carbon sequestration.
“That kind of confirms it will never be an injection well,” Taft said.
Although CWLP could theoretically pursue carbon sequestration to offset emissions from Dallman 4, CWLP spokesperson Amber Sabin said there is little chance of that happening before Dallman shuts down in 2045 in accordance with the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. To stay open, Dallman 4 would need to be carbon neutral by 2045.
“There is little viability of storage projects based on that timeline,” Sabin said in an email.
“There currently isn’t any technology to do that. CWLP does not believe that a full-size carbon capture facility could be built that would meet CEJA requirements nor could it be done without a new significant source of external funding.”
This article appears in September 4-10, 2025.
