INTRODUCTION
This website is called "Shift the Subsidy" because citizens in Jamestown, LA realized that an underground injection facility planned for their village in rural Northwest LA poses similar risks to their Aquifer system as those of the controversial "Carbon Capture" projects across Louisiana. Jamestown has already been suffering from the trucking associated with injection facilities to dispose of wastewater from oil & gas extraction, while citizens across South and West LA are protesting numerous proposals to inject super-concentrated Carbon Dioxide (CO2) into the earth. Both involve hazardous components, & both are regulated by Louisiana’s Dept. of Conservation.
President Biden initiated and President Trump augmented the "45Q" Federal Tax Credits (‘subsidies’) that are driving the Carbon Capture industry, which has been concentrated in Louisiana. The technology and arguments for Carbon Capture are not defensible from a Climate or Natural Resources perspective, according to environmental groups and other critics of the massive government spending involved. Citizens in Jamestown and beyond maintain that if $70 Billion in funding is available for such a questionable method, then at least a respectable level of funding should be available to incentivize a transition toward safer ways of handling the enormous quantity of hazardous wastewater involved with Louisiana’s oil and gas industries. With fossil fuel extraction in the Haynesville Shale projected to double, the issue seems doubly urgent.
Produced Water is injected into the ground in Louisiana, because that's the cheapest way to 'get rid of it.' But alternatives exist -- including above-ground treatment and recycling of the wastewater -- which is already being implemented in Texas as a result of problems with well blowouts in the Permian Basin. Louisiana-based companies are positioned to help.
THE JAMESTOWN (BIENVILLE PARISH) SITUATION
Jamestown area residents have objected to additional Produced Water Injection in their area for the reasons outlined in this Fact Sheet.
These citizens are seeking financial and legal support to challenge the permit for Brickyard Trucking, LLC -- which the La. Dept. of Conservation recently granted to allow the construction and operation of a Class 2 injection facility (on Hwy. 792, north of the Hwy. 154 crossing in Jamestown).
Jamestown’s vicinity is already inundated with 18-wheelers hauling Produced Water to and from injection facilities -- trucks that too frequently speed and disregard stop signs, overwhelming local law enforcement, damaging roads, and creating dangerous conditions for other drivers and residents near the highways.
Fearing more problems from yet another injection facility, Bienville Parish citizens are calling for a Cumulative Environmental Impact Study (conducted to Federal Programmatic standards) to assess the various ways that the injection of so much hazardous wastewater could -- and possibly already is -- impacting the groundwater of the Sparta Aquifer system.
Everyone relying on the Sparta Aquifer now should be concerned about the future of this drinking water source because the rate of extraction significantly exceeds that of the recharge. The additional threat of toxic chemical and radioactive contamination from more Produced Water injection facilities is not welcome, given the difficulty if not impossibility of containment or clean up under the ground.
The Sparta Groundwater Commission was founded with a strong mission to educate and protect this precious drinking water resource (SpartaAquifer.com), but Louisiana’s aquifer commissions are weak and considered “toothless” with regard to industrial permitting.
Contrary to previous reports, the Sparta Aquifer was never on USEPA’s list of Protected Sole Source Drinking Water Aquifers. The rationale for that might be that drinking water could potentially come from surface sources, such as the lakes in Bienville Parish and across N. La. But how practical or advisable is that? Hopefully, the Sparta’s status will be reconsidered, in light of the growing threats to it and the absence of alternative infrastructure.
Brickyard Trucking, LLC -- Class 2 Underground Waste Injection Permit Background
Most of Brickyard Trucking, LLC’s Application is posted online at: https://www.denr.louisiana.gov/page/1800 (except for the maps, which are currently only available at the Arcadia Courthouse and the Ringgold Library).
Citizens submitted 800 petitions opposing the Brickyard permit. The arguments in those documents have not been posted online by the agency, and are only available through a Public Records Request to James.Devitt@La.gov – meaning that anyone interested would need to go to Baton Rouge to see the documents and pay for copies. [link to the 5 petitions]
The Dept. of Conservation responded to citizen comments with this summary document: [link to Brickyard Appendix A].
On Nov. 6, 2025, the Dept. of Conservation issued an order permitting the Brickyard facility: [link].
Throughout the permitting process, citizens have been seriously disappointed with the Public Participation process, and strongly feel that the Public Notice, Document Availability and Public Comment rules for the agency need to be overhauled to better align with the public interest.
Bienville Parish citizens aim to seek Judicial Review of the Brickyard permit, and are seeking technical and legal support for that effort. While the “deck may seem stacked against them” given the legislative and regulatory situation favoring polluting industry, Bienville Parish citizens are questioning the Dept. of Conservation’s role as a “perpetual permitting machine.”
The La. Dept. of Environmental Quality’s (LDEQ’s) website is more user-friendly than the Dept. of Conservation’s: Documents from Acme Brick & Dixie Brick's previous decades of operation at the Brickyard Trucking site are available at https://deq.louisiana.gov/page/edms
[Click through the Archival section to Search “AI Lookup” with #'s 16735 & 102974 for Dixie Brick & Acme Brick].
ALTERNATIVES TO PRODUCED WATER INJECTION – Spurred by problems in the Permian Basin of Texas, an industry already exists to handle Produced Water above-ground in a responsible way. Louisiana companies could follow suit. While wastewater treatment facilities are large and expensive, they are more controllable than the underground, pressure-driven wastewater-dumping that Louisiana has been pursuing for a long time already. The recycled, clean water from above-ground treatment facilities could be used for industrial and potentially agricultural purposes, helping to reduce the current volume of fresh drinking-quality water extracted from the Sparta Aquifer for non-human consumption.
OKLAHOMA's EXPERIENCE -- This investigative article was published by Grist on October 29, 2025 and represents what Louisiana should be more seriously trying to avoid.
“Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground. Oklahoma regulators failed to stop it.” | https://grist.org/accountability/toxic-wastewater-from-oil-fields-keeps-pouring-out-of-the-ground-oklahoma-regulators-failed-to-stop-it/?fbclid=IwdGRzaANw-ChjbGNrA3D4HmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeMTbiMDVLUI8eA57wVPk1wEXhKbZgEJRXEY4DyHR5cWpJVC-dI9qMRt_bkr0_aem_-jyVdO7_gYJHgWA5lUywIw
LOUISIANA is not so different:
This 2024 presentation (by Andy Jacoby, esq.) provides insight into Louisiana’s existing abandoned oil & gas well situation, and the Dept. of Conservation generally. Update: Since 2024, the ‘Oilfield Site Restoration Commission’ was dissolved into the State Mineral Board, a step in the right direction. However, in light of the massive problems and serious reform needed at the State level, the author strongly advises citizens to work closely with Local Government through zoning and other police powers as the most effective way to prevent & control unwanted facilities.
TEXAS is leading the way on Alternatives to Injection of Produced Water:
Problems in Texas’ Permian Basin have been serious enough to prompt large-scale wastewater treatment as an alternative to injection:
“Scaling Up Produced Water Recycling: The Permian Basin Infrastructure Story:”
https://youtu.be/bUmyrAXNdUgsi=4m8d-XEXzDwAxEKW
“TETRA, EOG to use Oasis TDS to process Produced Water in West Texas”
https://pboilandgasmagazine.com/tetra-eog-to-use-oasis-tds-to-process-produced-water-in-west-texas/
A Broussard, Louisiana-based company also provides alternatives to Produced Water injection: www.PWSCompany.com
2. CARBON CAPTURE SEQUESTRATION (CCS) -- Class 6 Injection Permits
-- What is Carbon Capture?
National groups like this one have helpful info online: https://www.carboncapturefacts.org/
This flyer was created by Mike Nichols of Pitkin in Vernon Parish, who is fighting a large CCS project in that area and who has assisted Jamestown citizens. He's running in District 4 against U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson, specifically in opposition to the funding for Carbon Capture.
[LINK]
A diverse network of tens of thousands of Louisianians are actively opposing CCS projects, which were prompted by the 45Q Federal Tax Credits, because CCS is risky and ultimately a waste of public money. There are better ways to address the impacts of Climate Change, such as reducing methane emissions.
On October 15, 2025, Governor Landry responded to the growing citizen opposition by imposing a 45-day Moratorium on the consideration of new projects by the Dept. of Conservation – in order to prioritize the permitting of 6. Industry insiders report that there are now 300 current proposals, although the total list has not been revealed to the public. One at Hackberry has already received a permit. Recently, the U.S. Dept of Energy 'paused' university research funding for similar projects, raising questions about 45Q funding generally.
The tide is turning on Underground Injection, but in the meantime, citizens find it necessary to continue to fight to stem the tide. On November 20, Central La. citizens filed suit to challenge the Constitutionality of property expropriation for Carbon Capture projects: https://lailluminator.com/2025/11/20/central-louisiana-residents-leaders-sue-louisiana-over-carbon-capture-land-seizures/
Residents of other States are also now fighting enormous Carbon Capture projects, this one from Alabama: