Two large-scale carbon capture pipeline systems are seeking permits to build their pipelines across the state of Iowa. Summit Carbon Solutions LLC and Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC want to install over 1000 miles of pipeline in Iowa. The basic premise of the lines is to carry captured carbon in liquid form from ethanol plants to be stored underground at capped sequestration points in North Dakota and Illinois, respectively. The proposed projects are classified as hazardous liquid pipelines. These for-profit private companies are requesting the use of our productive farmland to build an unproven idea of a hazardous material carbon capture sequestration system in order to benefit the environment.
Summit and Navigator are seeking permits through the Iowa Utilities Board. These companies and their carbon capture pipelines are not public utilities. Therefore, they should not be able to forfeit the rights of our ag procedures through the enforcement of emanate domain. I have not seen the term eminent domain used in the public information from either company, but what will the result be if landowners refuse to sign off on the projects?
Public comments can be made concerning these projects on the Open Docket Comment Form of the Iowa Utilities Board website (iub.iowa.gov). The public meetings for Summit Carbon have passed, but public meetings are coming up in 36 Iowa counties starting November 29th in Lyon and Plymouth Counties. You can find the complete public meeting schedule in a 2021-10-27 press release on the iub.iowa.gov website.
Public Meetings Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC in Northwest Iowa:
Lyon County • Nov 29, 2021 – noon – Forster Community Center, Rock Rapids
Plymouth County • Nov 29, 2021 – 6 p.m. – Le Mars Convention Center (lower level), LeMars
Cherokee County • Nov 30, 2021 – noon – Aurelia Community Center, Aurelia
Woodbury County • Nov 30, 2021 – 6 p.m. – Sioux City Convention Center (Rooms A & B), Sioux City
O’Brien County • Dec 1, 2021 – noon – Crossroads Pavilion Event Center (Great Hall), Sheldon
Osceola County • Dec 1, 2021 – 6 p.m. – 9th Street Center, 418 Ninth St., Sibley
Dickinson County • Dec 2, 2021 – noon – Dickinson County Expo Center, 1602 15th St., Spirit Lake
Emmet County • Dec 2, 2021 – 6 p.m. – VFW Hall, 314 S. First St., Estherville
Kossuth County • Dec 3, 2021 – noon – Eagle Center (banquet room), Lakota
Respectfully submitted,
Barb Clayton
Spirit Lake, Iowa
