Concerns aired about test site
By LEE MORRISON
The Times-Reporter
PORT WASHINGTON - Questions poured in from about 100 area residents wanting to know more about a proposed deep-well research project near Port Washington.
The Ohio Borehole Project was the topic of a public information session Thursday at Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University at New Philadelphia. The session lasted more than 2 1/2 hours.
Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, was among the speakers. In March, ODNR announced the project which calls for drilling a 9,000-foot-deep well at a site north of Rt. 36 between Gnadenhutten and Port Washington. The test well would determine if carbon dioxide could be stored there far beneath the 750-acre site owned by Holmes Limestone Co. of Berlin. However, officials stressed that there are no plans to permanently store carbon dioxide at the site during the research.
Representatives of the county Community Improvement Corp., Battelle and ODNR discussed the project, the technology involved and how the project could help economic development in the area. The goal is to find a way to dispose of carbon dioxide by pumping it into the ground in liquid form instead of emissions going into the atmosphere.
Residents were more concerned about safety, long-term considerations, traffic congestion and a potential drop in property values.
Asking many questions were Port Washington area neighbors Erin Alford and Laura Raymond.
“They answered a lot of our questions, but we’re more concerned about what will end up there,” Alford said after the meeting.
“It’s not so much the drilling now, but what the site could become,” Raymond said.
“Are they going to make a good project bad?” Alford asked. “We have to deal with whatever happens. This is where we live.”
Several in the audience made a comparison to Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility north of Bolivar. There have been problems with stench generated from an underground fire, and county commissioners are among those concerned about the future safety of the landfill.
Although the test well is not a landfill, people expressed concerns about a variety of “what if” scenarios. Those included concerns about possible water contamination, underground shifting caused by injecting pressurized carbon dioxide and displacement of underground oil or gas without compensation.
After the session, Logan said he had some of the same questions, but “the more I heard about the technology involved, the more comfortable I felt and that’s why I was so firm with some of my answers.”
He was referring to his remarks that the injections would not cause any underground shifts or earthquakes.
Logan, a native of the East Liverpool area, said he understands the Countywide situation. He said the difference is that this is a public project, while others involve private enterprise.
“We’re science-driven,” Logan said. “There can be huge benefits from this. Tuscarawas County has a wonderful opportunity based on the way the earth here was created. We would be utilizing existing technology to utilize those resources wisely, which is (ODNR’s) mission.”
Logan said each generation faces its own challenges and opportunities and that it’s important not to separate growth from innovation. He said there is a growing scientific consensus regarding global warming and that knowing how to dispose of carbon waste is becoming increasingly critical to protecting the environment.
Project research leader, Neeraj Gupta of Battelle at Columbus, said similar projects are being conducted worldwide. Commercial scale sequestration for disposal is being done in Norway and Algeria. He said it’s likely sequestration will be required in the United States in the near future.
He said the goal for this project and region is to test it on a small scale and “then let the policymakers decide if it makes good sense or not.” Most of the funding for the efforts of the eight-state Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is coming from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Gupta said earlier reports that the separate FutureGen project chose not to locate at the site because population was due to fast timeline demands.
“It was not because more residents mean more risks,” he said.
He also said the project could serve as a bridge to the future for energy issues that will not be solved overnight.
Mike Lauber, president of the county Community Improvement Corp., said he was impressed by the turnout.
“We really care about Tuscarawas County and its environmental concerns,” he said, adding the effort is to attract jobs that will help make a good living as well as the county being a good place to live.
“But, it’s got to be good for us,” he said. “I will not support it if it’s not going to be ecologically sound. We have an opportunity for a golden spike of alternative energy and handling carbon dioxide emissions. Tuscarawas County can play an important role in the future.”
The Times-Reporter
PORT WASHINGTON - Questions poured in from about 100 area residents wanting to know more about a proposed deep-well research project near Port Washington.
The Ohio Borehole Project was the topic of a public information session Thursday at Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University at New Philadelphia. The session lasted more than 2 1/2 hours.
Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, was among the speakers. In March, ODNR announced the project which calls for drilling a 9,000-foot-deep well at a site north of Rt. 36 between Gnadenhutten and Port Washington. The test well would determine if carbon dioxide could be stored there far beneath the 750-acre site owned by Holmes Limestone Co. of Berlin. However, officials stressed that there are no plans to permanently store carbon dioxide at the site during the research.
Representatives of the county Community Improvement Corp., Battelle and ODNR discussed the project, the technology involved and how the project could help economic development in the area. The goal is to find a way to dispose of carbon dioxide by pumping it into the ground in liquid form instead of emissions going into the atmosphere.
Residents were more concerned about safety, long-term considerations, traffic congestion and a potential drop in property values.
Asking many questions were Port Washington area neighbors Erin Alford and Laura Raymond.
“They answered a lot of our questions, but we’re more concerned about what will end up there,” Alford said after the meeting.
“It’s not so much the drilling now, but what the site could become,” Raymond said.
“Are they going to make a good project bad?” Alford asked. “We have to deal with whatever happens. This is where we live.”
Several in the audience made a comparison to Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility north of Bolivar. There have been problems with stench generated from an underground fire, and county commissioners are among those concerned about the future safety of the landfill.
Although the test well is not a landfill, people expressed concerns about a variety of “what if” scenarios. Those included concerns about possible water contamination, underground shifting caused by injecting pressurized carbon dioxide and displacement of underground oil or gas without compensation.
After the session, Logan said he had some of the same questions, but “the more I heard about the technology involved, the more comfortable I felt and that’s why I was so firm with some of my answers.”
He was referring to his remarks that the injections would not cause any underground shifts or earthquakes.
Logan, a native of the East Liverpool area, said he understands the Countywide situation. He said the difference is that this is a public project, while others involve private enterprise.
“We’re science-driven,” Logan said. “There can be huge benefits from this. Tuscarawas County has a wonderful opportunity based on the way the earth here was created. We would be utilizing existing technology to utilize those resources wisely, which is (ODNR’s) mission.”
Logan said each generation faces its own challenges and opportunities and that it’s important not to separate growth from innovation. He said there is a growing scientific consensus regarding global warming and that knowing how to dispose of carbon waste is becoming increasingly critical to protecting the environment.
Project research leader, Neeraj Gupta of Battelle at Columbus, said similar projects are being conducted worldwide. Commercial scale sequestration for disposal is being done in Norway and Algeria. He said it’s likely sequestration will be required in the United States in the near future.
He said the goal for this project and region is to test it on a small scale and “then let the policymakers decide if it makes good sense or not.” Most of the funding for the efforts of the eight-state Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership is coming from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Gupta said earlier reports that the separate FutureGen project chose not to locate at the site because population was due to fast timeline demands.
“It was not because more residents mean more risks,” he said.
He also said the project could serve as a bridge to the future for energy issues that will not be solved overnight.
Mike Lauber, president of the county Community Improvement Corp., said he was impressed by the turnout.
“We really care about Tuscarawas County and its environmental concerns,” he said, adding the effort is to attract jobs that will help make a good living as well as the county being a good place to live.
“But, it’s got to be good for us,” he said. “I will not support it if it’s not going to be ecologically sound. We have an opportunity for a golden spike of alternative energy and handling carbon dioxide emissions. Tuscarawas County can play an important role in the future.”
