Plan commission reviews drafts

Drafts have been presented.

Now it’s up to plan commission to make revisions and decide whether to move them forward.

Jay County Plan Commission reviewed drafts Thursday for ordinances regulating carbon sequestration storage facilities, battery storage systems and data centers.

The carbon sequestration ordinance specifically relates to geological carbon sequestration facilities, which involve storing carbon dioxide deep underground.

County officials have been discussing carbon sequestration regulation for more than six months as POET Bioprocessing is planning a project in Jay County.

POET Bioprocessing’s plans involve a nearly 4,000-foot well and injecting carbon dioxide — it's a byproduct from creating ethanol — into the well for 12 years.

Jay County and Portland officials decided not to establish a moratorium on carbon sequestration facilities earlier this year. Hopes were for the county to create an ordinance regulating facilities by the end of this year.

According to the draft ordinance, wellheads and pipelines must be located at least 1,500 feet from property lines. Residential structures are not allowed within the “plume” area of the project. (The aforementioned requirements may be waived in writing by adjoining property owners.)

Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn has voiced concern about POET Bioprocessing’s project multiple times this year. He shared his worries again Thursday, saying despite the fact that a test well has already been drilled, he hopes the project can still fall under the new ordinance’s regulations. 

“This one bothers me where it’s located,” he said. “I’ve thought about it a lot, with the stone quarry (US Aggregates) right there, and carbon sinks to the lowest point.”

He suggested the project could move farther south.

“This could be put farther away from the community, a lot of other people, because they say the chances are slim, and they probably are, they’re probably really safe, but if something does go wrong, that’s in a populated area, and plus the stone quarry (US Aggregates) is right there, and if there’s a leak, prevailing wind … puts it right in that pit.”

Jay County Commissioners president and plan commission member Chad Aker questioned if the county should regulate depth for such projects. County attorney Wes Schemenaur noted the state and federal governments handle such regulations. 

He added that if the county were to get into technical aspects beyond state and federal requirements, it would likely need to hire geologists or other experts for each project.

According to the draft ordinance, an alarm system must be in place “to warn the area of any leak or malfunction to the system that will require evacuation of the area.”

Additionally, the developer may not bring carbon dioxide from outside the area to inject into the site.

The draft ordinance requires developers to coordinate a pre-project development consultation with Jay/Portland Building and Planning. It also requires developers to receive approval for a special exception use from Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals following a public hearing.

Also Thursday, the plan commission reviewed a draft ordinance for battery storage systems.

Pati McLaughlin of Jay/Portland Building explained the ordinance is tailored to commercial battery storage systems that would be used to store energy from solar and wind farms.

The ordinance requires 1,500-foot setbacks from property lines, as well as a 100-foot setback from rights-of-way. It also requires a 7-foot fence around the project with the fence set at least 50 feet from property lines.

Similar to the carbon sequestration ordinance, it requires a pre-project development consultation with Jay/Portland Building and Planning and project approval for a special exception use on agricultural-residential zoned districts from Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals following a public hearing. Special exception use approvals will be contingent on applicants obtaining their permit within a year.

Also, the plan commission reviewed updates to a draft ordinance regulating data centers in Jay County.

Mirroring language in the other draft ordinances proposed Thursday, changes include requiring a special exception use approval from Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals following a public hearing.

Other changes were to add application requirements, which include a summary statement, site description and site plan. The permit fee is also currently listed at 6 cents per cubic foot for each structure used for data storage.