Protecting Health and Operating Safely

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Protecting the Environment and Operating Safely

Air Products is focused on the safety of our people, as well as the surrounding community, its residents, and the environment, both where we operate and across the globe. At the core of the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex is reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere using safe and proven engineering technology called carbon capture and sequestration. Thanks to this revolutionary technology, which has been in use for 50 years worldwide, we can create clean hydrogen that will help our industry partners and customers decarbonize their own operations.

Air Products has invested in the best available monitoring technology to alert us to a leak and ensure we can take protective action should this extremely unlikely event occur. In addition to the extensive monitoring required of Air Products during sequestration, the company is required to monitor the area for 50 years after injection of CO₂ has ended.

Safeguarding the Environment of Lake Maurepas

As part of its commitment to the environment, Air Products is supporting a three-year, nearly $10 million project for independent biomonitoring research of Lake Maurepas by Southeastern Louisiana University, which will independently monitor the environmental health and safety of the lake during the construction and operation of the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex.

Southeastern researchers have studied Lake Maurepas for years and are the leading experts on the lake’s environment, and this independent biomonitoring research will further support and expand their efforts. 

Southeastern Louisiana University is directing the funding for research, data collection, and publicly provided analytical results. Southeastern will monitor the aquatic and wetlands environments of Lake Maurepas to include wildlife and other species that live in this ecosystem.

In February 2024, Southeastern Louisiana University researchers deployed real-time monitoring buoys on the Lake to monitor data points like carbon dioxide and dissolved oxygen levels. These buoys will feed data to a public dashboard so members of the public can also monitor the health of Lake Maurepas. This data will allow other independent researchers to highlight any changes in the lake over time.

Visit the Lake Maurepas Monitoring Project on SLU’s website and on Facebook. Download a fact sheet about the partnership.