Greenville is located in Darke County. The town sits atop the Mt. Simon Sandstone, a geologic formation that runs under much of the Midwestern U.S. and is thought to have large storage potential for CO2 emissions.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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The plan was to inject CO2 emissions from the local ethanol plant and bury them miles beneath the earth. The ethanol plant is owned by Marathon, the oil company, and The Andersons, an Ohio-based agribusiness enterprise.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Ethanol plants emit a much purer stream of CO2 than a coal smokestack does. It's easier and cheaper to capture the CO2 as a result.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Greenville mayor Mike Bowers, standing across from one of the area's many corn fields, heard from numerous constituents who believed the project unsafe. They were especially worried about CO2 leaking into the area's sole source aquifer. Bowers ultimately came out against the project.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Local newspaper editor Christina Chalmers described the controversy over the carbon sequestration project as "one of the biggest stories of the decade" in Darke County. Chalmers said many residents are global warming skeptics who weren't convinced of the need for CO2 sequestration.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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The Greenville Daily Advocate started a whole new page in the newspaper dedicated solely to the carbon sequestration controversy.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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The Andersons, owners of the ethanol plant, ultimately decided to divorce themselves from the project. The company wasn't convinced it would benefit the plant or the community long-term.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Republican state Representative Jim Zehringer opposed the Greenville CO2 sequestration project. He said he had too many unanswered questions to support it, including who would ultimately be responsible if something went wrong.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Kerwin Olson, program director for Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, helped Greenville's protesters strategize against the sequestration project. His group opposes CO2 storage on both environmental and economic grounds. Olson says utility ratepayers will get stuck with the bill for what he calls a "pipe dream."
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Chuck McConnell is vice president of carbon management at Battelle, a Columbus-based R&D laboratory. Battelle led the government-funded project to demonstrate carbon sequestration in Greenville.
- Sarah Gardner / Marketplace
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Greenville residents say religious faith plays a big part in daily life here. Citizens Against Carbon Sequestration organized several rallies against the CO2 storage project, including a prayer rally, to gain support. Battelle ultimately pulled the plug on the Greenville project in August 2009, citing "business considerations."
