Acreage In North Calcasieu and South Beauregard could become home to some of the first Class VI CO2 injection wells in the area for permanently storing industrial  carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions underground. Above the ground, on the 20,000-acre tract, the pine trees will do the same thing – sequester CO2 – as they always have, and continue to be harvested and re-planted as a sustainably managed working forest. The site is west of DeQuincy and south of Fields, bordered to its south by Louisiana Hwy. 12.     

At Evergreen Sequestration Hub, CO2 will be piped underground from southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana CO2 emitters, for example, paper and pulp, petrochemical, compression stations and LNG plants.

“It’s likely that we will build a new pipeline to bring CO2 into the project,” said Josh Weber, CEO, Trace Carbon Solutions, the company that oversees the development of carbon storage infrastructure.

The CO2 will be injected into one of the project’s planned two wells, down through several layers of thick, highly porous and permeable sands, sandwiched between impermeable upper and lower confining shale layers. Total storage is estimated to be 250 MMT (million metric tons) of CO2.

“Once we put it there, it stays there forever,” he said.

An online educational site, “Climate Portal” said to picture a ton of CO2 as “a cube that is almost as tall, wide and long as a telephone pole.”

Evergreen Sequestration Hub is still waiting for green lights from the Army Corp of Engineers, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office, according to  David Dell’Osso, Trace Carbon Solutions chief operations officer.

Trace Carbon Solutions is the first company to file for its Class VI permit directly to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources after the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency granted Louisiana primacy over Class VI wells in December 2023.

Without final permits, Weber could not give a firm date for beginning construction, which will require a crew of 20 to 30 workers about two months to drill. Company officials have met with officials from Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes. Later in the process, public meetings will be held well in advance of project start up.

“We could be looking at a two-year timeline,” he said.

Evergreen is also in talks with emitters who will use their services. However, no contracts have been finalized at this time.     

In other states, 14 Class VI applications have been approved by the EPA as well. Those are  in North Dakota and Wyoming, states that have had primacy over its Class VI wells.

“Beyond those projects, as far as I know, there are no other approved Class IV anywhere else in the country,” Weber said. “David and his team went through a rigorous process before we entered into the lease agreement with Molpus Woodlands Group.

When the project is complete, four to six full time employees could be hired. “While that number is not very large, Evergreen will mean additional manpower will be needed at the point of capture at various industrial sites,” Weber said. “Carbon capture is part of a larger decarbonization strategy, but an important one if we want to make a difference.” Acreage In North Calcasieu and South Beauregard could become home to some of the first Class VI CO2 injection wells in the area for permanently storing industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions underground. Above the ground, on the 20,000-acre tract, the pine trees will do the same thing – sequester CO2 – as they always have, and continue to be harvested and re-planted as a sustainably managed working forest. The site is west of DeQuincy and south of Fields, bordered to its south by Louisiana Hwy. 12.