Wedoany.com Report-Oct 30 ,The concern over carbon capture projects in Southwest Louisiana continues to grow. Tonight, an open house meeting was held at SOWELA to inform the community about Project Cypress Southwest.

“Our project is located two miles, just outside of the south city boundary of the city of Vinton. We are proposing to own, build, and operate a direct air capture facility,” Leslie Matthews, Senior Stakeholder Engagement Manager, said. “It is a facility that captures CO2 from the atmosphere, we process it, and we work with another company to have it sent by pipeline to permanent underground storage in Vernon and Rapides Parishes.”

Many residents shared concerns about traffic increases, and chemicals in the air, among other issues but Project Cypress Southwest reassures residents.

“We are doing a traffic impact assessment to understand what different traffic controls would be important to reduce any effects on that community,” Matthews said. “We are doing a noise impact assessment, so looking at what noise levels would be in addition to the noise they already experience and mitigating that to the extent we can. We want to make sure folks can still enjoy their country lifestyle while we continue to develop our facility.”

Project Cypress’ Community Engagement Council, which is formed by representatives of the communities, said they are ecstatic about the future of this project.

“This project was conceived and developed from the ground up to be environmentally friendly and to be receptive to job creation throughout the region. I think the company is making every effort to be forward and open about the project,” Ernest Broussard, Participating Member of the Community Engagement Council said.

Some residents who declined to be on camera said they’re ecstatic about the prospect of new jobs in Vinton. However, a resident who lives in Mossville said they’re worried about the future of the air in their community. Project Cypress Southwest reassures all residents of their concerns.

“This is not something new and untested and if people do have questions please get in touch with us. We would love to answer questions and have those one-on-one conversations with folks,” Matthews said.