A Decatur couple has sued Archer Daniels Midland in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging the agribusiness giant’s carbon capture project involved an improper injection of carbon dioxide into the ground beneath their property.
Ronald and Laura Leach filed their putative class action complaint July 19 through the firms Katten & Temple, of Chicago, and Samuels, Miller, Schroeder, Jackson & Sly, of Decatur. The Leaches accused ADM of trespass, nuisance, and unjust enrichment.
According to ADM’s website, its carbon capture and storage project uses “the Earth’s natural trapping system” to store carbon dioxide, which “is captured by industrial activity, purified and then compressed into liquid form. Liquified CO2 is then transported through pipelines to storage wells where it is safely injected into sealed off geological formations and can be stored securely for millions of years.”
Michael Katten
| Katten & Temple
ADM called the Decatur capture site the first of its kind for commercial carbon storage and said it “continues to work closely with state and federal agencies including the Illinois State Geological Survey at the University of Illinois, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. (Environmental Protection Agency) to ensure the safety of the CCS project in Decatur.”
The Leaches’ lawsuit takes issue with carbon dioxide created as a byproduct at ADM’s Decatur ethanol plant. They say the company never obtained “consent to use their pore space to store CO2,” defining the term as “areas in the soil where air and water flow through.” According to the complaint, ADM has injected more than 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into space under land owned by the Leaches and other potential class members, at least 40 other landowners.
According to the couple, ADM’s actions have thus far precluded them “and class members from using the pore space, from benefitting from the pore space’s value and from opportunities to develop their subsurface interests.” They introduced as evidence a 2020 document showing “the plume of CO2” in their region and said it has expanded in succeeding years.
ADM’s website said “wells inject purified and compressed CO2 more than 1.25 miles underground,” as part of the process. “Locations are chosen because of their geological makeup, which have both porous rock for storage at the optimal depth and several layers of impermeable rocks above the storage area to serve as seals.”
The company further singled out the Illinois Basin, which it said “features the Mount Simon Sandstone Saline Reservoir located about 1.5 miles underground, as well as several layers of shale rock, making it ideal for” storage of captured carbon. It said the injection depth is “far below drinking water supplies” and said it started by injecting the liquified CO2 under its own North American headquarters and plant operations, both in Decatur.
“Comprehensive monitoring tools are in place to monitor any potential impacts to groundwater, surface area and the underground geology, including seismic activity,” the company claimed.
The complaint alleges ADM has obtained “substantial economic benefit” through such in injections in the form of carbon capture tax credits, and amount the complaint pegs as “millions of dollars.” In addition to class certification, the Leaches seek an injunction barring ADM from future CO2 injections as well as compensatory and punitive damages and legal expenses.