An area resident is up in arms about an Indigenous-led bioenergy carbon capture and storage project near Meadow Lake. Linda Nadon doesn’t believe there has been enough transparency when it comes to the proposed North Star pipeline, an initiative of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council and Carbon Alpha – a subsidiary of carbon capture provider Svante. When completed, the pipeline will transport captured carbon dioxide from the MLTC Bioenergy Centre (adjacent to NorSask Forest Products) to a permanent underground storage hub. 

“The big thing for me is the lack of transparency,” Nadon told Northern Pride. “They’re proposing this pipeline where they’re going to collect carbon dioxide (from the bioenergy centre), and it’s going to go right through people’s leased land, owned land and be dumped in a well on Highway 4… It will go right across my leased land, and I don’t like that.” While she feels the public has been kept in the dark when it comes to the overall project, Nadon’s other major concern is the impact such an initiative could have on nearby properties as well as the environment as a whole. “They apparently have already done an environmental study and are now proposing to start the physical survey, but not one of us landowners or lessees have signed a piece of paper to allow access, and that’s not the norm,” she said. “Should there be a rupture, and from what I read it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but a matter of ‘when’, there’s a chance it could affect our groundwater.” 

According to information provided by Nadon, when carbon dioxide leaks into groundwater, it creates carbonic acid and drops the water’s pH level. The high acidity dissolves surrounding rock and pulls toxic metals such as lead, arsenic and barium out of the ground and into drinking water supplies. She also believes pumping gas deep underground can push salty underground water (brine) upward into fresh water zones, while high injection pressure can crack ricks and damage well seals. “It could contaminate our groundwater, and we can’t have that,” Nadon said. In terms of transparency, however, according to Tina Rasmussen, CEO of Meadow Lake Tribal Council Industrial Investments (MLTCII), two public open houses have already been held this year with regard to the project while another two are planned for later this fall. 

“So far, we have already held two full open houses,” Rasmussen reiterated. “One was held back in February at the Meadow Lake Seniors’ Activity Centre and another one earlier this summer. We’re just starting to ramp up when it comes to engineering and design, and, as of right now, we have a group of people who are also going out and meeting directly with impacted landowners. The lady in question (Nadon) is part of that group… She will be visited directly by proponents of the project and, on a one-onone basis, will be able to ask any kind of questions or bring up any concerns she has about the project.” Rasmussen went on to say the pipeline would be very similar to installing a natural gas pipeline. 

“The intent is to try to run it in the rightof-way and use the same land and spaces SaskPower uses to run power lines,” she said. “But, it will be a pipeline about oneand-a-half metre underground, and the carbon dioxide will be pumped through that pipeline… Back in late March, an exploratory well was dug just off Highway 4 about 20 kilometres south of Meadow Lake… We had to follow all the permitting processes to do this.”