Protect Communities from CCS 
Carbon capture, transport by pipeline, and sequestration is risky, ineffective, and wasteful:

• Carbon capture requires 13-44% more energy, increasing electricity costs by 25-50%
• CCS increases water use by up to 55% for each capture site. Much of this is used for cooling
• CO2 is a toxic asphyxiant. A pipeline rupture can spread a lethal plume of CO2 over two miles, displacing oxygen.
• CO2 can escape along injection or monitoring wells, abandoned wells, or through cracks in the caprock. There is no guarantee that CO2 can be permanently sequestered for hundreds of years without it leaking. If it leaks, it can contaminate drinking water with heavy metals.

Yet, project developers are proceeding with 13 carbon capture and sequestration projects proposed in Illinois. Of these, nine are being reviewed by the U.S. EPA. The others have not yet submitted applications to the EPA. The status of these projects is presented in the table below. This table also shows the name of the project, its location, the number of injection wells proposed, and the total volume of CO2 that is proposed to permanently sequestered.

View Class VI projects currently under review at EPA (filter for Illinois)
Class VI Permit Applications in Region 5

What you can do and why it is important
Experts have been hired to review the technical aspects of each permit. Eco-Justice Collaborative, along with its partners who are part of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, is using this information to:

• Help residents understand the risks associated with carbon storage planned in their County.
• Organize to provide meaningful comments to the U.S. EPA as part of the required public hearing process for Class VI wells.

The U.S. EPA issued the first draft permit for Marquis Energy's Class VI well permit in September 2025. Comments provided by Dr. Lindsey Gulden, PhD, independent data scientist; the Illinois EPA; the Eco-Justice Collaborative; and residents and landowners who live near the storage site can be read here. Their review calls into question the U.S. EPA's decision to issue a Class VI well permit without considering impacts of increased pressure on an existing hazardous waste well and its associated plume, just 1.3 miles west of the proposed CO2 injection site. You can read comments here, including those provided by Dr. Gulden, the Illinois EPA, and our partner organizations. Be sure to download and read the attachments.

This first project underscores the importance of our review. The Region 5's review of the first Class VI well permit application in Illinois since ADM Decatur's projects was both faulty and incomplete. U.S. EPA is expected to issue a final permit for this project in February, 2026.

The table below provides timelines for each Class VI Well Project. We are beginning to review documents for One Earth Energy's proposed storage area. If you are interested in this work or affected by one of the nine projects, email Pam.