By: Jeff Beach
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Two lawsuits involving pipeline company Summit Carbon Solutions and the North Dakota Public Service Commission have been combined.
The PSC, which approved a route permit Iowa-based Summit last year, requested that the two lawsuits be merged.
One lawsuit is led by Burleigh County, the other by a group of landowners who oppose Summit’s proposed five-state carbon capture pipeline that would end at an underground storage area northwest of Bismarck.
In requesting the consolidation, attorney Zachary Pelham, representing the PSC, said “the two appeals are a mirror image.”
Attorneys for Burleigh County and Summit Carbon Solutions did not object to the consolidation.
Among the issues raised in the cases is a challenge to the PSC’s ruling that states zoning rules trump county zoning ordinances on pipelines. Plaintiffs also argue the agency did not give enough consideration to the safety of residents along the pipeline route.
Another pending lawsuit involves a landowner challenge to the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s approval of permanent underground storage permits for Summit.
Summit plans to gather carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants in five states, including one in eastern North Dakota, and use pipelines to send the CO2 to a sequestration area in Oliver, Mercer and Morton counties
In another case, the North Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments in April in a challenge to a state law related to underground storage of CO2.
Summit describes its project as the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project. It would take advantage of federal tax credits that promote reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Supporters say it would help ethanol producers compete in the low-carbon fuel market and benefit farmers who supply the ethanol plants with corn.
In addition to North Dakota, Summit has obtained a state pipeline permit in Iowa and approval for a short section of the route in Minnesota. Summit has so far been unsuccessful in South Dakota. Nebraska has no state agency that handles CO2 pipeline projects.
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