Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:
The March 6 News-Register had an article on page A6 concerning Tallgrass converting a natural gas pipeline to a CO2 transport line. In that article, John Hladik, the company’s manager of state and local public affairs, states, ”CO2 is not flammable, it’s not toxic, it’s not corrosive, it’s not poisonous, and it’s a gas that the federal government classifies next to nitrogen.” I wish to take issue with part of what he said.
While it to true that CO2 is not toxic or poisonous when it goes out into the atmosphere from the ethanol plant, when you concentrate it into a semiliquid state it can be dangerous if there is a leak in the pipeline. Just type in a search for Mississippi CO2 pipeline accident. Concentrated CO2 is heavier than air. It is colorless and odorless. We as humans breathe CO2 in all the time. However, in high concentrations, it will displace the oxygen in your body. You can become disoriented and your heart may have trouble functioning properly. If your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen, it will start to die. Most often there are effects on cognitive function. Extreme exposure to carbon dioxide can lead to death by asphyxiation. 
One thing they found in Satartia, Mississippi, was that emergency response was hampered by the fact that some vehicles would not run. Combustion engines require oxygen to run. In the Satartia, Miss., accident, three mainline block valves were closed eight minutes after the rupture. However, the pipeline company reported that the rupture released 21, 873 barrels of liquid CO2. Approximately 200 people were evacuated from the area and 45 went to the hospital. A number of those people still feel the effects of the CO2 three years later.
We need as a community to be asking a lot of questions concerning this proposed conversion of a natural gas pipeline to a CO2 transport line.
Iris Bergen,
Farmer’s Valley resident