Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill to protect the Mahomet Aquifer from carbon sequestration into law on Friday.
Carbon sequestration is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and injecting it underground. After the Environmental Protection Agency found in August 2024 that Archer-Daniels-Midland’s carbon sequestration facility in Decatur had leaked, lawmakers moved to introduce legislation to protect aquifers.
Following months of debate stretching from the 2024 fall veto session to late May this year, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill to protect the Mahomet Aquifer, which was signed into law Friday. The bill was filed by Democratic Sen. Paul Faraci of the 52nd district, encompassing Champaign-Urbana, and Democratic Rep. Carol Ammons of the 103rd district, also encompassing C-U, was the Chief House Sponsor.
“This is a victory for the thousands of people across our state who depend on that sole-source of clean drinking water,” Ammons said of the bill in a statement posted to Instagram. “The crisis that once faced our water supply has been averted, and I’m grateful for every advocate and community member who helped us protect it.”
The Mahomet Aquifer was designated a sole source aquifer by the EPA in 2015 because “there are no physically available or economically feasible alternative sources of drinking water” for more than half of the population in East Central Illinois. In total, it serves over 1 million people across the state.
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Ammons thanked Republican Rep. Brandum Schweizer in her Instagram post for his help in the passage of the bill. Schweizer was an alternate chief co-sponsor to the bill.
“I applaud Rep. Ammons, Sen. Faraci, and Sen. Rose for their tremendous work on this legislation,” Schweizer said in a statement after the bill passed in the General Assembly. “Although the Mahomet Aquifer is local to central Illinois, not protecting it will result in a problem for the entire state, as 15 counties in central Illinois rely on it for clean water.”
Ammons thanked Republican Sen. Chapin Rose as well as Faraci in her statement.
“Having access to clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, and too many of our residents rely on the Mahomet Aquifer to risk contamination to it,” Faraci said in a statement. “While mitigating the effects of climate change should be a priority, it cannot be at the expense of the clean drinking water of nearly one million Illinoisans.”
