http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-964509.mp3
New Paltz, NY – Scientists are working on a project in the lower Hudson Valley, to discover if carbon dioxide can be stored under the earth. WAMC's Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Greg Fry has more on a federally funded project, which could result in a solution to the nation's climate problems...
John Conrad is the President of Conrad Geosciences, a Poughkeepsie-based environmental and geologic consulting firm. Conrad has teamed up with a Texas-based engineering firm to explore underneath the earth in areas of Rockland County, New York, and into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The purpose of the study is to determine if large-scale storage of carbon dioxide is possible in the region.
Conrad says they are in the early stages of the study, which has two main tasks. The first, just completed, involved geophysicists collecting seismic data, to try and determine the geology underground in what's known as the Newark Basin. Crews were visible along I-287 in Rockland County, and along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.
The second phase involves deep drilling, as deep as 10-thousand feet, to directly examine rock formations below ground level.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, is also involved in the project. NYSERDA Assistant Project Manager Amanda Stevens was asked if this process of carbon sequestration could be a viable option for New York, and the nation, in the near future. She says it is, and needs to be, because of the quantity of fossil fuels being generated today.
This project is one of 11 taking place across the nation, funded through the Recovery Act - about 75 million dollars worth, in fact. Stevens says along with the current project in the lower Hudson Valley, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, NYSERDA is looking at other locations, even those near the Atlantic Ocean, where there's potential for storing carbon dioxide.
The Department of Energy believes that the environmental and safety concerns behind carbon sequestration can be minimal, if proper regulatory and monitoring actions are taken. Conrad says the location of this current study can prove to be a huge part of efforts to reduce the amount of emissions that trouble cities in the northeastern U. S.