In Kansas, EPA Region 7 issued its first-ever Class VI permit to PureField Ingredients near Russell. The approval is also the first across the four-state Heartland region Region 7 covers, which includes Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. PureField will capture CO2 from fermentation at its wheat-based ethanol and food ingredient facility, transport it by pipeline roughly five miles, and inject it into the Arbuckle formation more than 3,400 feet underground. The permit allows up to 150,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, totaling 1.8 million metric tons over 12 years. Monitoring requirements extend 50 years beyond the end of injection.
For PureField, the permit is commercially significant beyond emissions reduction. The company's permit application identified access to California's low-carbon fuel market as a central objective, and the project economics depend in part on federal Section 45Q tax credits for carbon capture and Section 45Z credits for low-carbon fuel production. The fermentation process at ethanol plants produces a relatively pure stream of CO2, which keeps capture costs lower than in most other industrial applications.
The Illinois approval covers a considerably larger project. EPA Region 5 issued a permit to Marquis Carbon Injection in Putnam County allowing up to 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 per year over a six-year injection period, with a total capacity of 9 million metric tons. The storage formation sits between 3,094 and 4,854 feet underground, protected by roughly 400 feet of impermeable shale and carbonates designed to prevent upward migration toward drinking water sources. Post-injection monitoring is required for 12 years.
The Marquis permit came with community opposition. Local environmental groups and the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club raised concerns about proximity to a closed hazardous waste injection site roughly 1.3 miles from the proposed well, groundwater risks to the Illinois River corridor, and what they characterized as an insufficient 12-year post-closure monitoring window. Critics also pointed to the ADM Decatur project, where monitoring wells were found to be leaking CO2 beyond projected ranges; EPA issued a violation notice in 2024 after the problem had been known for some time.
The two approvals reflect a broader pipeline that is moving, but slowly. EPA currently has approximately 400 Class VI permit applications pending review at the state and federal level. Illinois alone has 13 proposed carbon capture and sequestration projects, nine of which are under active EPA review. Each approval requires site-specific geological analysis, public engagement, and a multi-stage technical review process that typically spans more than a year from draft permit to final decision.
For industrial operators watching CCS as a potential compliance pathway, the Kansas and Illinois approvals confirm that the permitting framework is functional and active. They also confirm that timelines remain long, geology is determinative, and community engagement is a substantive part of the process.
