Panel highlights groundwater, well-integrity and migration questions for carbon storage

Committee members were directed to collect technical information on safety and environmental risks associated with geologic carbon storage, including groundwater monitoring, well integrity and the potential for subsurface CO2 migration.

The chair said, "I want us to study the ground water," and asked the safety subcommittee to investigate instances where geology or well integrity could make storage risky, how far CO2 could migrate underground, and what surface-release or pipeline-length limits other states use.

Jennifer Weber and Chip Crockett were assigned to the safety subcommittee along with other committee members; the chair asked the subcommittee to develop protections that address property rights, public safety and long-term liabilities.