Rensselaer Adventures: April showers and a bp open house

The bp event

On Tuesday bp (formerly British Petroleum) hosted an open house at eMbers to discuss their plans for carbon capture and storage (CCS) that involves Jasper County. I had seen a flyer for the meeting that said it started at 5:00, but at the Drainage Board meeting on Monday I learned that there was an earlier meeting at 3:30 for public officials. Commissioner Bontreger told me I should attend, so I did.

Entering eMbers, I was struck by how many people from bp (all wearing identical white shirts) were there. I estimate that there were 20 to 30 of them, and they came not just from northern Indiana but from all over the country. After I talked to a few of them and picked up their literature, the company started a presentation.

CCS involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions, transporting them to an appropriate place, and injecting them deep into the earth. Jasper County is connected to this project because we (and neighboring counties) have a unique geology that is suitable for storing CO2. (This had been explained at the December Commissioners meeting.) There is a layer of porous rock deep below us. It is too shallow in the far north of Indiana, and it slopes downward toward the south, eventually becoming too deep to use. That layer is overlaid with non-porous layers of rock, so whatever is put into it should stay there.

Second, there is a dense cluster of businesses that produce CO2 to our north. Chief among them is the bp refinery at Whiting, the largest in the midwest and the largest refinery that bp owns. Third, the State of Indiana has passed legislation that is friendly to this project. The two Commissioners who were attending were not appreciative of this legislation because it limits what local governments can do.

From their discussions with local officials, bp knows that they need to explain how this project can benefit the residents of Jasper County. They suggested that there would be jobs, though almost all of those jobs would be temporary, existing only during the construction phase. They also explained the timeline. They are at the very beginning. They need to do the geologic study and secure permits. The earliest that a shovel will hit the ground is 2030. For 20 years after construction is completed, liquified carbon dioxide will be pumped into the ground. At that point storage will stop and for the next ten years the site will be monitored to make sure there is no leakage or contamination of water above the storage layer. After that bp will withdraw and the State of Indiana will be responsible for whatever is left.

There were questions of what the benefits to the company are from this project. There are tax benefits and subsidies for companies that capture carbon. The bp people suggested that there is a market for "low-carbon fuels", fuels that are identical to other fuels but which are produced with fewer CO2 emissions. (This reminded me of the market for organic foods, foods identical to non-organic foods but produced differently. The economic concept for this is "price discrimination.") There was nebulosity in the longer-term benefits; perhaps bp is anticipating additional government regulations. After the presentation one of the local officials suggested that bp might make money selling carbon credits. I know there is a market for this but do not know how it works. (Selling carbon credits may also be a reason that several local dairies have spent a lot of money on a pipeline to inject methane produced from cow manure into the natural gas trunkline.)

After the presentation I talked to one of pb's geologists. He told me that the porous layer already has water in it and this water is what keeps the CO2 from moving. It will spread out for a few miles, so presumably the landowners near the injection site will need to be paid. He also said that the water would absorb some of the CO2. I joked that it could then be pumped back up as soda water. He said that that would not happen because the water down there is three times as salty as seawater. I also asked about the very long time before construction starts and he said that this is normal in the energy industry.

I expect that this project will go forward if the geology is right despite any local opposition. The State and Federal governments seem to be aligning in favor of CO2 storage and will override whatever local opposition there is. The local officials will, however, try to make sure that the local community does see some benefits from the project.

The big storm on Friday

A line of storms came through Indiana on Friday with high winds and horizontal rain. An EF1 tornado started in Benton County, moved through the Remington area, and then exited the County into White County. It damaged or destroyed several wind turbines. Rensselaer escaped major damage, though some people lost power, at least briefly. The only big tree down that I found was in Brookside Park.

The rainy weather continued on Saturday and it and the wet grounds resulted in the postponement of the annual Easter egg hunt to April 8

On Saturday I checked out the sewer construction on John Deere Road between Owen Street and Mattheson Street. As I was getting ready to take the picture below, I was hit by windblown sleet. It hurt.

The contractors are have two excavators digging to install the pipes. The one shown above started at Owen Street and is moving west. The one below started at the Mattheson end and is moving east.

April's Commissioners meeting

The County Commissioners met Monday morning with a long agenda of mundane items. A representative from their IT company said that two of the servers were near end of life and needed to be replaced. The new hardware should be good for five to nine years. The item will go to the Council for an appropriation. There were three buried cable requests, all approved. One was from BP for upgrades to its petroleum pipeline that runs through Jasper County.

A request to use the Courthouse gazebo was approved, with the comment from the County attorney that the parade ordinance, which applied here, probably should be updated. Community Corrections was given approval to apply for their annual grant. This year it will include funding for adding a new case manager and an electronic surveillance officer. They also received permission to fill a position vacant since December. The current census is 21 males, four females, and 20 on electronic monitoring.

The Farmers Market received permission to use the Courthouse parking lot this summer. The brick streets will be torn up and replaced. The Commissioners accepted a quote for repairing and finishing the floors of the Courthouse. They approved $15,000 to start the project and will approve more if they like the results. They also approved closing part of CR 400 E when the shooting range at the Jasper-Pulaski Reserve is open. The road is in the ricochet zone and closing the road seemed to be the best way to allow renovation of the range that meets requirements.

The Sheriff noted that the storm on Friday had hit the Remington area hard. He received permission to replace two openings at the jail. One officer quit without giving notice and the other is moving on to become a court bailiff. He would like to buy an X-ray machine to screen for drugs, which are being smuggled into the jail. He was asked about the license-plate readers that had been authorized last year. He said that the two installed at the i-65/SR 10 intersection have been operating for some time and he is happy with the results. The mobile units only recently arrived and they are in the process of training on them.

The Commissioners approved a number of contracts and conference requests. In previous meetings they had delayed approving a pest-control contract, and at this meeting decided to change vendors. Their health insurance agent recommended several changes to policies, most because of the lapsing of the pandemic emergency, and they approved them. They also approved three improvements to Highway Department buildings. The Auditor announced that a check from NextEra that they had been waiting for had arrived. The Commissioners approved $14,842 to replace the batteries of the sirens. The meeting was continued until April 17 at 8:00, if needed.

Drainage Board

The Jasper County Drainage Board met Monday afternoon. It opened two bids for spraying and accepted the lower bid of $163,337.71. The other bid was higher and wanted two years to complete the task. It is an annual task. It then accepted the surveyor's report on four ditches that are in the area of the Dunns Bridge solar projects (Hinshaw, Rasmussen #90, Sands #2603, and R.E. Davis #111) and set a date of June 29 for public hearings. All will be at the Fairgrounds because a large crowd is expected. They will begin at 9:00 for the Hinshaw, then proceed at 15 minute increments until 9:45 for the R.E. Davis.

Rensselaer Park Board meeting

The Rensselaer Park Board had a short meeting Monday evening. They have invested $7000 in idle funds in T-bills to get a better return. The tournaments at Blacker Fields are scheduled to begin in first weekend in May. The Parks 4 People meetings are finishing up. There was a discussion about the need for a new park headquarters; the current one in Iroquois Park floods when the river gets really high. I asked why there was digging in Foundation park next to the restrooms and learned that it will be the site of batting cages.