No Plans to Use Eminent Domain for Pipeline, per FutureGen

THE FUTUREGEN ALLIANCE has its carbon-dioxide storage site and the pipeline route to carry the CO2.
Up next, surface rights for monitoring wells and the pipeline.
The Morgan County endeavor has become something of the last project standing for carbon storage in Illinois. The other major project in this region, Taylorville Energy Center, failed to get enough legislative support after more than a decade of off-and-on efforts.
There is a Sierra Club federal lawsuit seeking to block FutureGen 2.0 and plans to store 1 million metric tons of CO2 a year for 30 years deep beneath the earth in northeast Morgan County. But two key announcements of late have given the project momentum — Illinois Commerce Commission approval of the pipeline route and the U.S. Department of Energy commitment of $1 billion toward the estimated $1.68 billion cost.
The pipeline would carry CO2 from a retrofitted Ameren coal plant at Meredosia to the storage site, and the question naturally has come up about the use of eminent domain for acquisition of land from reluctant property owners. The Alliance says it should not be needed.
“We are completing the process of acquiring surface rights for the monitoring wells and pipeline routes,” the Alliance said in a statement. “Eminent domain has not been used and we do not expect to use it.”
The Alliance already has obtained deep-surface rights and land for injection wells, according to the statement. The not-for-profit Alliance includes several of the nation’s largest coal companies, including Peabody Energy.
There still are many moving parts, but after the ICC decision, FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys predicted construction would start this year.

Full story here.

If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen Pipeline and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.