Carbon Sequestration Moves Forward in SW Louisiana Despite Landry Moratorium

Despite a moratorium Gov. Jeff Landry issued last October in response to fierce backlash from his own rural constituents, carbon sequestration in Southwest Louisiana continues.

A permit request filed with the state would allow Lake Charles-based Gulf Coast Sequestration to construct two test wells and one drinking water monitoring well at the Project Goose Lake site in Calcasieu Parish.

The latest company hoping to take advantage of exceptions to the moratorium is Gulf Coast Sequestration, which intends to construct one drinking water monitoring well and two testing wells, followed by an injection well, at Goose Lake near the Intracoastal Canal and Sabine National Wildlife Refuge on the border of Cameron and Calcasieu parishes.

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Earlier this month, Calcasieu Parish residents spoke out against the project in the area at a public hearing.

While much of the criticism toward carbon capture and sequestration has focused on land rights, those who spoke in opposition to Project Goose Lake were primarily concerned with the environmental impacts, especially on the Chicot Aquifer, which provides drinking water for 15 parishes, from Southwest Louisiana to Acadiana.

“The people that are born and raised here know for a fact that what we’re talking about is the complete destruction of the south half of Louisiana,” Sulphur resident Charlie Atherton said at the hearing. “What few risk assessments I’ve seen say it’s not a matter if but when all of our sole source drinking water will be contaminated.”

Gulf Coast Sequestration has requested a coastal use permit from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy to construct a base for two Class V carbon capture and sequestration testing wells and one drinking water monitoring well.

Class V wells are used to inject non-hazardous fluids such as water or brine into the ground for logging, the core collection of rock samples or injectivity tests, according to the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, and have the potential to be converted to Class VI injection wells, which inject carbon dioxide deep underground, once testing is complete.

GCS has already filed for a Class VI permit for Project Goose Lake in Calcasieu Parish, and it is one of two of its carbon capture and sequestration projects that are exempt from the moratorium and have been placed on a priority list in Landry’s executive order. The Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy is preparing its final decision on GCS Project Minerva in Cameron Parish.

At the hearing, a representative for GCS said the company selected the site primarily because the land was already in the private ownership of its founders, but claimed that its geology lends itself to a project of this kind.

“We are confident that this project represents a responsible and beneficial use of our coastal resources,” GCS Head of External Affairs Ryan Furby said.

The deadline for written comments to be considered before a final decision is made on the permit application lapsed Monday night.