Hearings begin on permits for Iowa's first carbon capture pipeline
The Iowa Utilities Board is deciding if an Ames company can build the state’s first carbon capture pipeline.
Summit Carbon Solutions is planning a 687-mile, $5 billion project routed through much of Iowa.
Landowners and environmentalists opposed to the plan held a small protest outside the Iowa Utilities Board hearing room Tuesday morning.
"We are here today to protect our land," Crawford County landowner Tim Baughman said in front of a crowd of protestors in Fort Dodge Tuesday. "When will Summit realize we don't want their pipeline scam?"
Summit Carbon Solutions is asking for a permit to build and operate 687 miles of pipeline through 29 Iowa counties. The Ames company also wants the right to use eminent domain for 973 parcels on the proposed pipeline route. It says it’s already gotten the go-ahead from more than 70 percent of affected landowners. The pipeline would carry carbon dioxide from Iowa ethanol plants to underground storage in North Dakota.
"We are going to pay an average of $930,000 in property taxes in every single county in our project once we are operational, and that's huge," Summit Carbon Solutions spokesperson Sabrina Zenor said.
Opponents say they don't want a pipeline going under their land and they worry about the safety of the carbon dioxide pipes.
"I don't know about you, but I don't want my grandkids someday with CO2 pipes in an unzoned maze in my county jeopardizing their way of life to wonder what the hell grandpa was thinking," Shelby County Supervisor Steve Kenkel said.
Monty Shaw with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says carbon dioxide is much safer than natural gas pipelines.
"That is a flammable, explosive gas that comes right into your house. I have one in my house. I'm glad it's there," Shaw said.
Many landowners also dislike Summit Carbon Solutions using eminent domain to install the pipes on their private property. Shaw says that’s the law.
"You don't want one person to stop a project that's beneficial to the public good," Shaw said.
The Iowa Utilities Board hearing could last for several weeks. A final decision on the pipeline may not happen until September.