Transparency and Public Engagement

A key issue with the ARCH2 project is the lack of transparency from the DOE. According to FracTracker Manager of Data and Technology Matt Kelso, “. . . the agency has decided to keep even basic information about the projects in the hub a secret until the ink is dry on contracts.”^[2]

This lack of clarity prevents meaningful public feedback, leaving communities uninformed about potential impacts and unable to effectively engage in the decision-making process. As a result, communities are left to speculate about how the hydrogen hub’s development might affect their environment, health, and daily lives.

Risks of the ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub

The ARCH2 project aims to establish a hydrogen economy in the Appalachian region, but there are a number of critical issues and potential hazards that accompany this initiative.

Hydrogen Blending Risks

Hydrogen blending, a likely application of the hydrogen produced by the ARCH2 project, involves mixing hydrogen with natural gas to create a hybrid fuel. This practice is part of the DOE’s HyBlend initiative, which explores blending up to 30% hydrogen with natural gas for various applications, including heating and power generation. While hydrogen blending offers potential benefits in reducing carbon emissions, it also raises significant safety concerns as a result of hydrogen embrittlement, which is a major risk associated with mixing hydrogen with natural gas in existing pipelines and gas system infrastructure.

Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) occurs when hydrogen atoms diffuse into metals, causing them to become brittle and more prone to failure. This can affect critical infrastructure such as pipelines and valves. In his testimony, Matt Kelso, a senior analyst with FracTracker Alliance, recounted a serious incident to illustrate the potential dangers, “About 10 miles east of where I live, there was a major gas well failure near the bank of Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. This event…was blamed on [hydrogen embrittlement] in a report by Matergenics.”

While hydrogen embrittlement can lead to catastrophic failures to infrastructure, as seen in the Beaver Run Reservoir incident, the risks of hydrogen blending are not limited to industrial settings. Hydrogen embrittlement can also weaken the metal components of household appliances that rely on natural gas, such as stoves, water heaters, and furnaces. Compromised components increase the likelihood of malfunctions and dangerous failures such as gas leaks or explosions.

The risk is not hypothetical. In his testimony, Kelso shared harrowing experiences from his community in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, which has experienced multiple home explosions.

“On August 12th of last year, a massive explosion occurred in the Rustic Ridge portion of my community, killing six people,” Kelso noted. The cause remains unknown but is believed to have originated within the house. Allegheny County, where Plum Borough is located, has since experienced two more explosions.

Pore Space and Gas Migration Risks

The ARCH2 hydrogen hub’s reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology introduces another significant risk due to potential subsurface carbon dioxide migration. Carbon capture and storage involves injecting carbon dioxide into acres of underground pore space—natural voids within rock formations—to store gas under high pressure.

However, long-term carbon storage is unpredictable. Sequestered carbon tends to migrate upward through fissures or fractures in rock formations, which could allow carbon to escape from storage facilities. In the Ohio River Valley, this risk is compounded by the abandoned oil and gas wells that are abundantly present in the region.

According to Katie Jones, an analyst with FracTracker Alliance who specializes in issues related to the Ohio River Valley region, “ARCH2’s hydrogen production will rely on largely unproven carbon capture and storage technology to reduce its emissions.”

Jones states in her comments to the DOE in March 2024 that the risk of subsurface carbon dioxide migration poses serious safety threats to nearby communities, including human exposure to hazardous and highly concentrated carbon dioxide, drinking water contamination, earthquakes, and explosions.^[3]

“Developers are being allowed to move forward with hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration proposals before gaining the necessary experience and understanding of the technology and its infrastructure,” Jones writes in her comments.