mahoninghealth.org

How Much water are they using?

By: Ann Bokelman 
Worth County, Iowa Resident
06 Sept. 2024

In 2012 we discovered our well was pumping air and needed to be replaced. Ouch, but we knew it wasn’t something we could put off. All was great until about six or seven years ago when we started pumping tiny bits of what we were told was shale. Is it a coincidence that Poet drilled another 525 foot deep well in 2017? Somehow I doubt it. We added filters and continue to hope for the best.

In February we first heard about Summit’s plans to build a carbon capture system at the Hanlontown ethanol plant. We started talking to neighbors about their need for even more water. It was then, we found our two closest neighbors also had to drill new wells, one also in 2012 and one in 2013. At that point it got concerning. We started totaling up the number of new wells that have been drilled since Poet put their first well at 428 feet in 2004.

In the decade prior to Poet drilling their well and producing ethanol, there were an average of 12.2 new wells drilled in Worth County per year. In the ten years after, the average was 23.4 new wells per year. Coincidence? I think not. We have since learned that the City of Hanlontown has had to drop their well 100 feet as they were pumping sand. This drastic increase in failed wells raises serious questions about the sustainability of our precious groundwater supply and the potential long-term effects on the local environment, agriculture, livestock and households that rely on clean well water.

Ethanol production is a tremendous user of water, a public resource. Carbon capture is predicted to increase that usage by 33%. We must ask ourselves if this level of water consumption is acceptable for a company whose sole purpose seems to be to pocket money. The net amount of carbon captured is negligible. It is critical that local authorities and community members demand transparency in all aspects of this proposed boondoggle. Our water is a precious shared resource and needs to be treated as such.