Our state recently lost out as the site of an experimental coal-burning power plant designed to test new strategies for pollution control, partly because the state lacked sufficient information about our subsoil strata.

One of the primary pollutive elements from coal burning is carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas we pump by the cubic mile into the air for the enjoyment of our upstate New York neighbors. One strategy for cleansing the exhaust is to pump it deep underground into salt-rich rock and coal deposits or old oil and gas pockets where it would be trapped.

In an effort to catch up, Ohio has allocated $2.3 million to drill a 9,000 foot hole in the bedrock to begin gathering such information. The location of the Battelle Institute-directed project, called the Ohio Stratigraphic Borehole, will be a yet-unannounced spot in either mid-eastern or southeastern Ohio.

The project will help prepare the state for possible future restrictions on gas emissions. Ohio has room underground for an estimated 180 years of pollution storage.

Drilling is scheduled to begin soon, with results coming online later this year.

Morlocks?