Carbon sequestration might expand in Cameron Parish

Roughly 40 people gathered at the Hackberry Community Center last week, for a public hearing on a planned carbon dioxide sequestration project in the area. If approved, the planned carbon sequestration injection well project would be the third of its kind in the state, and the second in Cameron Parish.

The permit would allow Lake Charles-based Gulf Coast Sequestration to inject and sequester up to 19 million metric tons of CO2 into two wells, 8,900 to 10,500 feet below ground level, over a 30-year period.

Public comments included two Gulf Coast Sequestration representatives in support of the permit application, five Southwest Louisiana residents in favor of the project, and nine against it.

Those in favor of granting the permit touted economic growth and job creation, as well as rigorous safety and monitoring protocols.

But project opponents worried about potential CO2 leaks and water contamination, delayed emergency response times, and proximity to nearby salt domes used for natural gas storage. They also questioned the transparency of the project.

Company representatives wrote the construction phase of the project would generate 300 temporary jobs, “with a workforce comprising approximately 20% local residents, 70% commuters, and 10% individuals temporarily relocating to the area,” according to documents filed with the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy. Once in operation, the project would employ seven full-time positions.

“Through permanent sequestration, we can reduce the carbon dioxide output into the air from these critical local industries,” GCS Head of External Affairs Ryan Furby said at the hearing. “We do this by safely storing a deep underground, where it is absorbed permanently into deep rock reservoirs.”

“The service location of the two wells we’re discussing tonight are carefully, thoughtfully, and intentionally located on remote, largely uninhabitable private land that is generally used for ranching,” Furby said.

Project documents indicate “CO2 will be sourced from undisclosed strategic partners in the Lake Charles Industrial Corridor,” a finding Cameron Parish Police Jury Vice President Magnus “Sonny” McGee took issue with.

The pipeline route is not clear. It may be out of our jurisdiction, but it will affect people wherever it is,” McGee said, and added that it is not reasonable to grant a permit for a well without knowing where it will source the CO2 to inject, or what percentage of impurities will be in it, or the make up of those impurities.

The injections will contain at least 97% CO2 and 3% of other gases and trace elements including methane, hydrogen sulfide and trace amounts of mercury, according to project records.

Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic colorless gas, and prolonged exposure can result in a noticeable odor at the lowest levels, but at higher exposure can cause nausea, headaches, drowsiness and instant death at the highest.

“You ask us to give consent without knowing,” the police juror said.

The Chicot Aquifer is the closest water supply to the project. It has a maximum depth of 1,100 feet below sea level and is the most important aquifer in Louisiana, spanning over 9,000 square miles and supplying 400 million gallons of water per day to 15 parishes.

Gulf Coast Sequestration founder and executive chairman Gray Stream tried to assuage concerns by pointing to his own local ties.

“This is our property, it’s our land. We live here. I raised my kids here, they’re born here, me too. And that’s our whole culture,” Stream said. “This isn’t some kind of evil mega corporation from far away.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency typically regulates Class VI wells, but it handed over primacy to Louisiana in early 2024.

After vocal pressure from residents and lawmakers, Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order officially pausing new Class VI injection well permit applications after October 2025. But the proposed project is exempt from this moratorium, having been placed on a priority list by Landry in his executive order.

If approved, this permit would be the third Class VI injection well permit in the state, following final permits issued to Hackberry Carbon Sequestration in Cameron Parish in late 2025 and the Strategic Biofuels Green Fuels project in Caldwell Parish in June.

This report was first published by The Current, a nonprofit news organization serving Lafayette and South Louisiana.