Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - A public informational forum meeting (town hall style) has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the North Manchester Scout Hall located in Warvel Park, 108 W. 7th St., North Manchester.
The meeting is being held due to concerns and questions from residences in the town of North Manchester and Wabash County regarding the Carbon Capture project POET and Vault 44.01 announced earlier this year at the Wabash County Plan Commission Board meetings held March 20 and May 1 at the Northfield Jr./Sr. High School auditorium.
POET bioprocessing plant began operations 17 years ago on Sept. 11, 2008, according to a provided news release. The plant is 3 miles south of North Manchester on CR 800N and a quarter mile east of Ind. 13. According to their website they consume approximately 24 million bushels of locally grown corn to produce 90 million gallons of bioethanol annually.
POET announced their intentions of building a well on their property which they plan to pump compressed pressurized CO2 (carbon dioxide) down into the ground approximately 3,000 feet into an underground land formation known as the Mt. Simon sandstone layer. This is a complicated issue and one that promotes strong emotions within the community, the release states. Therefore, it was suggested that an informational meeting be held to explain what this type of project could do to the community and additional ramifications to natural resources.
Topics that will be discussed will be: What is Carbon Capture/Sequestration and What is the Mt. Simon Sandstone Geologic Layer- Jon Charlesworth; Purdue Extension Service; Hydrology Information concerning the underground aquifer; How will this proposed project affect Wabash County and surrounding states-Citizens Action Coalition.
