PLYMOUTH — The Marshall County Plan Commission took a step towards creating an ordinance on carbon capture systems in the county.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a set of technologies designed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial sources and power plants. It involves capturing CO2, transporting it, and then storing it underground, typically in deep geological formations.
The process would involve the transport of captured CO2 by truck, rail, or pipeline to the site where it would be injected into deep underground geological formations, such as saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, or unmineable coal seams.
The main concern locally from such a site would be groundwater contamination.
The Commission began discussion on the topic at their previous meeting. Marshall County Plan Director Nicholas Witwer told the board members that no such companies were “knocking on the door” in Marshall County, but felt the ordinance would be prudent in case of such in the future.
The Commission had discussed a ban on such operations in the county, and Witwer said that if at some point in the future the county wished to allow such operations, the ban could be lifted.
The members of the Commission voted to continue the process by producing an ordinance for review at their next meeting to ban the practice in the county. If passed, the proposed ordinance would then move on to the Marshall County Commissioners for their approval.
