“And these big, multinational, multi-billion dollar companies are polluting the area, whether it’s the air or the water, and we need to make sure people are safe and we’re holding them accountable so that this kind of pollution stops.” “There’s clearly a number of cracks in the system where people are falling through the cracks,” Morgan said. A 2017 memo from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources cited a Nicor estimate that the leaking gas could reach up to 912 million cubic feet per day, though the company later said it was unaware of that figure. The system then pumps that gas back into the same leaking storage formation where it came from. When the first Target 3 report was published, a spokesperson for Nicor Gas said the Ancona facility includes a shallow mitigation system that collects roughly 1.5 to 3 million cubic feet of leaking gas daily before it reaches the earth’s surface.
“We want to make sure these communities are protected when these leaks occur.” “When natural gas leaks from depleted aquifers, it can contaminate the surrounding soil and water,” Ariel Hampton with the Illinois Environmental Council said in Monday’s committee hearing. State investigators and court documents said the geological formation where the gas was initially stored had developed a crack that allowed the gas to bubble up to the earth’s surface. The exact volume of leaking methane remains somewhat of a mystery, though its effects are visible across several acres of farmland above the storage facility in LaSalle County. Read more: Clear and Present Danger: The Leak
“There is a series of news stories in WCIA’s coverage that exposed what was happening in LaSalle County, in particular, with natural gas underground storage facilities.” “This legislation was brought about after some news coverage identified effectively a gap in our regulations when it deals with pollution,” Morgan said during the committee. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) sponsored the measure in response to a Target 3 investigation that found evidence of methane gas leaking from Nicor’s underground natural gas storage facility in Ancona. (NEXSTAR) - State lawmakers on the House Energy and Environment Committee overwhelmingly approved a plan in a 29-0 vote to modify the Illinois Underground Natural Gas Safety Act and require greater oversight and monitoring of natural gas storage fields.
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