River Parish Sequestration

Map with a line drawn showing where the sequestration will be,

River Parish Sequestration would inject CO2 waste from a toxic ammonia plant underground, putting our communities at risk of groundwater infiltration, sinkholes, and pipeline explosions.

What it is

River Parish Sequestration is a large carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project planned for Ascension and Assumption Parishes. The 9 mile long, 24 inch diameter carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline starts in Geismar, goes under the river, and then passes directly through the Modeste community. The pipeline continues to cross LA1, then makes a turn near Avon Road to cross LA1/308 near Lula Road and go under Bayou Lafourche. The pipeline then terminates near Back Skachtery Road. Along the pipeline are three CO2 wells or injection sites. These sites will be where the CO2 is pressurized and injected 10,000 ft into the ground.

The pipeline passes a little over a mile away from Belle Rose Primary School, within 1300 feet of Praise Tabernacle, and less than 1200 feet away from houses on Blackwell Lane. There are about 20 houses along Bayou Lafourche that are less than 1000 feet away from the pipeline.

This map shows where the pipeline runs through the community. — The orange line is the pipeline.

The specific part of this large project that is under consideration is a test well. This well is known as a Class V well, which is a category of wells that includes experimental or research wells. This well is being drilled down approximately 10,000 feet deep to determine whether the geology of the area is appropriate for carbon injection activity. The well’s location is shown as the red pin on the map below.

Not all parts of this project have been approved yet. There are many permits from the state, parish, and other government bodies that River Parish Sequestration must obtain. Each test or injection well will require its own permit.

The status of the permits as of December 2024 is detailed here.

What dangers does this project have for my community?

The pipeline for this project passes extremely close to homes, businesses, schools, and churches. If the pipeline were to leak or rupture, people who were within 2000 to 4000 feet kill zone may suffocate to death very quickly. This kill zone includes the children at Belle Rose Primary School, and many residents of Blackwell and Grisaffi Lane.

Because CO2 is odorless and colorless, people would not have any warning that a leak was taking place. There are no CO2 detection systems in place along the pipeline that would give an alarm. Past CO2 leaks in Louisiana have not been detected by the pipeline company, but by residents who noticed large clouds of carbon dioxide gas leaking from the pipelines.

A CO2 leak near Sulphur that was spotted and reported by a resident. It took several hours for the leak to be plugged after detection.

Most fire and emergency management departments are not equipped to deal with a CO2 leak. Rescuers need full scuba gear to be able to enter the CO2 cloud to help people. Since internal combustion engines do not work in a CO2 leak, rescues have to be made either on foot or using electric vehicles. Most parishes have not offered training on CO2 leak emergencies, so first responders may not know how to react. Pipeline companies are not providing any safety or training, and claims of “real-time monitoring” are false. Both the leaks in Sartartia and Sulphur were not detected by pipeline company “real-time monitoring”, but by citizens and law enforcement.

CO2 does not necessarily remain underground, but can easily leak out through faults in the rock or up through old wells. Louisiana has tens of thousands of “orphan wells”, or old oil and gas wells that have been long forgotten and may not have been properly sealed off. CO2 from an injection well can force its way up these orphan wells.

What Can I Do About It?

The Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR) held a public hearing on the test well where anyone could speak up against the well and the bigger project. The public hearing was held at Ascension Parish Clerk-Court, 300 Houmas St. Donaldsonville, LA 70346 at 6:00 pm on January 30, 2025.

You could also email your comments to LDENR at info@la.gov by 4:30 on January 31st. The subject should be: River Parish Class V, Application Number 45407, Docket No. IMD 2025-001, and you should also include those numbers in your email itself. You can write your comments in the body of the email, or attach a document. If you wish to send in an anonymous comment, please email your written comment to chunter@risestjames.org before the deadline, and RISE will send in your comment without using your name or address.

Keep it at 3 minutes or under. You can submit longer, written comments by email.
Check to determine if you live or work within 2 miles of River Parish Sequestration pipelines or injection sites at https://www.mapdevelopers.com/distance_from_to.php and entering the below coordinates as a starting point. LDENR will sometimes let people who live close by speak first, although don’t let living farther away stop you from commenting.
Be specific why you oppose the project and how it would affect you. Will the pipeline pass through your neighborhood? Do your kids attend school or church nearby? Do you fish in Bayou Lafourche? Do you own land nearby?
If you want to come to the microphone with a friend for support, or have someone give a comment on your behalf, both are allowed.
LDENR can’t answer any questions during the hearing. They may ask for clarification on something you said, but they are mostly there to listen.

Yours in Service,

Sharon Cayette Lavigne, RISE St. James, Founder & Director

Caitlion O. Hunter, RISE St. James, Director of Research & Policy

What is Carbon Capture Sequestration?

Carbon capture, also known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a process where carbon dioxide gas (CO2) is injected into geological formations deep underground. CCS is currently a very hot topic for the Louisiana legislature, national energy policy, property owners, and local government.

CCS has only been tested on a small scale. A network of CO2 pipelines throughout the state and country exists for a process called enhanced oil recovery. This involves injecting CO2 gas into an existing oil well to force out any remaining fossil fuels. However, enhanced oil recovery has always been a short-term process, and the CO2 injected has been removed after use.

CCS proposes to inject CO2 underground and keep it there for thousands of years. However, in nearly every test case, the projects have failed. Huge projects that have promised nearly 100% CO2 capture rate have proved not to be able to meet these goals. The most successful projects have about a 50% to 70% efficiency rate, meaning up to half of the CO2 that is supposed to be captured and injected is instead released into the atmosphere during the pressurization process, or leaks into the water table well after injection. More CO2 entering the atmosphere contributes to climate change, and the effects of carbon dioxide entering the water table are unknown.

Many companies and countries that declare they will be “zero carbon” or “carbon neutral” are not actually planning to stop using fossil fuels. Instead, they want to keep burning fossil fuels, and claim that they will use CCS to capture all the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels, pressurize it into pipelines, then inject it into wells. CCS is often called a false solution for this reason- it does not move us forward towards a future powered by renewable energy.

Although a small amount of CO2 is in the air that we breathe, exposure to pure CO2 can be deadly or cause long-term damage. CCS involves both CO2 pipelines and wells. While there are already some CO2 pipelines throughout Louisiana, industry is proposing a massive buildout of new pipelines that will cross right through the River Parishes. In the event of a CO2 pipeline rupture, the scenario is truly a nightmare. The radius around a CO2 pipeline where a leak would cause immediate death is called a kill zone. For a 24 inch pipeline, the kill zone could be between 2000 and 4000 feet. Additionally:

CO2 is heavier than air, so it stays at ground level when it leaks.
CO2 has no odor or color, so it can be hard to detect.
CO2 displaces oxygen in the lungs, causing people to become faint, lose consciousness, or even die.
CO2 prevents cars from running, because it displaces the oxygen needed in an internal combustion engine.

This is not a hypothetical scenario. In Sartartia, Mississippi, a Denbury CO2 pipeline running next to a highway ruptured during a heavy rainstorm. Cars that drove by the pipeline stalled, then drivers lost consciousness or entered a state of confusion like “zombies”. Nearby residents passed out in their houses. Emergency responders did not have proper equipment to get to the scene. 200 people had to evacuate, and 45 were hospitalized. Although this incident happened in 2020, some people still have long-term brain damage.