The Bureau of Land Management approved Wednesday a carbon storage exploration project beneath public lands in southern Wyoming.
The record of decision allows Moxa Carbon Storage to explore 605,100 acres of federal subsurface pore space — openings underground that can potentially hold injected carbon dioxide gas — for long-term storage.
It marks the first time the federal government has authorized access to federal pore space via CO2 injection wells. An environmental review of the project released last year said it could potentially disturb some protected species, such as greater sage grouse, if it leads to surface disturbances.
The approval Wednesday doesn’t allow the company to use surface lands, but it could in the future with a separate approval. Moxa will also need to secure a permit to inject CO2 underground from Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality. Wyoming is one of just four states that have been granted authority by EPA to permit CO2 injection wells.
