Tell the Department of Energy to oppose millions for greedy polluters!

We need your help to protect Louisiana communities, wetlands, and economies from a potentially catastrophic project. Worse, it could be built with your tax dollars.

The Department of Energy could greenlight sending money to a company with a terrible track record of oil spills and pipeline mishaps. Your comment can help stop it!

Comments

Department of Energy,

I am writing to urge you to stop sending financial support to Cox Operating for its carbon dioxide (CO2) waste injection project.

Cox Operating and Repsol have announced a "Transportation Hub," part of Project Lochridge, for carbon dioxide (CO2), and received Department of Energy (DOE) Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) funding for a CO2 pipeline through 600-800 acres of coastal wetlands, from Geismar to Grand Isle in Louisiana.

For years, residents in the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) pipeline corridor between St. James and Lafourche Parishes have been burdened with pipeline explosion after explosion. Fishers in Jefferson Parish have seen too many pipeline impacts to wetlands, and cannot risk another, new chemical risk. Residents in Grand Isle live too close to the proposed injection site. We ask DOE to deny any more funding for this project that risks the health and wellbeing of so many of our communities until an Environmental Impact Statement is conducted.

Cox Operating is the least responsible operator in Gulf waters. Cox Operating has been responsible for over 840 oil spills offshore since 2004: more than any other company.  The company has an average of over 14 pipeline leaks per year. Cox's platform in Gulf waters off Grand Isle has been found to leak half a million tons of climate pollution by researchers from University of Arizona. Is this leaking platform the platform that will be used to pump CO2 underground?

Either DOE has not done its due diligence in selecting responsible operators, or it is ignoring Cox’s abysmal record. How can DOE expect public confidence in promoting carbon dioxide waste injection, when it is rewarding such a bad actor with millions of taxpayer dollars?

DOE cannot continue Project Lochridge if Cox is involved. The most leak-prone operator in the Gulf cannot be rewarded for its environmentally damaging actions. DOE must revoke funding for Cox’s participation in Project Lochridge and any other carbon dioxide waste injection project. Additionally, an Environmental Impact Statement that describes the minimal viable project, including a clear description of where the CO2 is coming from, must be completed before the project receives more federal funding.

Regretfully Cox is not alone, Project Lochridge, and all other carbon dioxide waste capture and injection projects must be paused until it is shown that all parties involved with carbon dioxide waste capture, transport, and injection are the best in the business and have no leaking wells or pipelines.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

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