Bret Dublinske, a lawyer for Summit Carbon Solutions, argues before the South Dakota Supreme Court on March 19, 2024. The case dealt with eminent domain and other related issues. (Dave Bordewyk/South Dakota NewsMedia Association)
By: Jack O’Connor
DES MOINES, Iowa (South Dakota Searchlight) – Summit Carbon Solutions has purchased old land easement agreements from a former rival company to help speed up its carbon pipeline construction project, Summit officials confirm.
Summit’s former rival, Navigator CO2, attempted its own carbon dioxide pipeline project before backing out in October 2023. With Navigator out of the picture, Summit has purchased many of Navigator’s old agreements to expand its coverage area and save itself time by not needing to negotiate new agreements.
Summit received approval in June from the Iowa Utilities Board, now called Iowa Utilities Commission, on its pipeline project. With the permit approval, Summit was given the power of eminent domain to force unwilling landowners into easement agreements.
The proposed project plan would build pipelines in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota to carry captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and transport it to underground reservoirs in North Dakota.
Roadblocks for Summit remain
Iowa is the only state to give Summit the green light so far. Before Summit begins construction in Iowa, the organization still has a handful of roadblocks to overcome.
The Iowa Utilities Commission is requiring Summit to refile several documents to receive a permit. Summit is also still in the middle of lawsuits it filed against Iowa counties that have attempted to restrict the placement of pipelines.
Additionally, Summit still needs approval in South Dakota and North Dakota for pipelines to be placed in Iowa.
Summit will also be limited from engaging in any new easement agreements with landowners until the organization holds public informational meetings in affected counties as required by law.
Summit has released its schedule for 23 public informational meetings about the project across 23 different counties throughout August and September. The times and locations of the meetings can be read here.
The Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmentalist activist group, has pledged to fight against Summit’s pipeline efforts. The group is currently working with impacted landowners to oppose the project.
“The public comment period is our chance to tell the truth about carbon pipelines and the dangers they pose to our land, our families and our communities,” the Sierra Club wrote on its website. “We also need to make sure impacted landowners know they DO NOT have to sign an easement.”
Summit could also face challenges in the Legislature When Navigator wanted to connect pipelines from Iowa to Illinois, Illinois state lawmakers passed a two-year moratorium on new carbon dioxide pipelines.
In past sessions, the Iowa House of Representatives have passed three fairly bipartisan bills that would limit or regulate the use of eminent domain for these projects. However, none of the bills managed to pass the Iowa Senate.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has expressed support for the benefits carbon dioxide capture could have on the Iowa agriculture industry as long as the benefits account for landowner rights.
On Thursday, after a tour of the Chevron Renewable Energy Group’s facility in Newton, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks praised pipelines as a way to aid Iowa’s ethanol industry but avoided advocating for or against eminent domain by calling it a state issue, not a federal one.
“I would say that farmers and property owners need to look at the why, the rationale, and then determine if it’s in their best interest,” Miller-Meeks said. “Companies that are acquiring easements are looking at, ‘How do you make the land whole? How do you ensure farmers that you can grow crops in the near future, the timing, restructure so that land is put back in the position it was before they put in the pipeline?’”
Which agreements are being bought?
Summit isn’t purchasing every agreement made by Navigator, Summit spokesperson Sabrina Zenor said. The land easement agreements Navigator made for its proposed route did not always align with Summit’s route.
Some easement agreements in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota have already been purchased but Zenor said the number of easement agreements purchased and when Summit will finish buying the old Navigator agreements it wants can’t be confirmed yet.
Summit notified some landowners whose easement agreement was purchased via letters mailed to them.
“Summit has acquired right-of-way easement options previously held by Navigator CO2, including the option(s) you signed with Navigator CO2,” Lee Blank, Summit’s chief executive, wrote in a letter to landowners whose easement agreements Summit purchased. “These options provide us with right-of-way access along expansion routes to the POET and Valero ethanol plants that have recently been added to our project.”
With the Iowa Utilities Commission declining to reconsider its permit approval, another lawsuit involving the pipeline project from either landowners, environmental activists or Iowa counties is likely.
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