Lake Maurepas CCS
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CCS Waste Storage Scheme Threatens Treasured Waterbody
Exploratory Map
Create visually arresting graphic to drive public engagement
Advocates needed a map to demonstrate the scale of negative impacts upon the lake, to get the word out and generate public interest, which in turn would compel public agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, to schedule public hearings for their required permits. Agency permit hearings are discretionary, and in this case it was absolutely necessary to counteract the company’s deceitful narrative of a ‘perfectly safe’ pipeline with negligible impacts. The Lake Maurepas CO2 injection site is only one component of the larger Air Products proposal to build a massive new ammonia plant, which comes with different risks, trying to convey all of this in one map was not possible, so I created a different set of maps for the CO2 pipeline, and the ammonia plant, in order to better show the entire scope of the proposal, and highlight other problematic aspects of their plan.
Huge win! Major CCS proposal announces cancellation
In July 2026, after three years of sustained advocacy, coalition building and community organizing, Air Products announced cancellation of their giant Ammonia plant in Ascension parish, including the CCS pipeline and injection field under Lake Maurepas. There were signs that their financial models were shifting, as Air Products sought new arrangements to sell off portions of their project to third parties, but a surprising press release announced complete reversal of their entire scheme. This news break confirms that new petro megaprojects are not inevitable, and that organized resistance can and does win BIG. If this can happen in Louisiana, a state where state leaders double down on gas and oil megaprojects in spite of steadfast community opposition and clear evidence of environmental harms, it can happen anywhere - which is a real cause for constructive optimism in a discouraging media landscape. This win would not have been possible without the momentum building across a wide and unusual coalition: from parents of school children at Sorrento elementary school, retirees at Pelican Point country club estates, to fisherman and backwoods boaters living on Lake Maurepas, and all of the advocates, lawyers, scientists and organizers.
