We've been critical of plans for CO2 pipelines flowing through the Upper Midwest to carbon capture sites in North Dakota in posts like Coming soon from a cornfield near you: mammoth carbon capture pipeline system and Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s son works for a controversial ethanol pipeline project.
Those landowners who have raised objections to the pipelines in Iowa are finding support at the county level. Plymouth County IA just said Not On Our Watch, Beverly Van Buskirk reports in the Le Mars (IA) Daily Sentinel:
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors has submitted a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) opposing the construction of two CO2 pipelines in Plymouth County and specifically the use of eminent domain in obtaining use of land from landowners.
Eminent domain is the right of a government or its agent to expropriate or purchase private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
Two companies, Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator Heartland Greenway, have proposed CO2 pipeline projects that would run through parts of the county. Both companies held public hearings in the county, Summit on Sept. 16 and Navigator on Nov. 29.
Summit Carbon Solutions would connect to the Plymouth Energy, LLC ethanol plant in Merrill to a system that will bring the CO2 to North Dakota where it will be stored underground.
Heartland Greenway would run about 24 1/2 miles through the southeast part of the county, with its end point at a permanent underground sequestration site in Christian County, Illinois.
Supervisors Chairman Don Kass said he attended the meeting in late November at the Le Mars Convention Center regarding the Greenway Heartland proposal.
“I sat in on that and asked some questions to which I did not get a very satisfactory answer other than to say that if nobody in Plymouth County wants to do this can they ram the entire thing through Plymouth County using eminent domain all the way across, and they said ‘well yeah.’ The whole crowd went ‘oooh,’” he said.
“There was not a single person there that spoke in favor of the pipeline,” he added. . . .
Plymouth County isn't the only Iowa county in the area objecting to the projects. Van Buskirk reports that Kossuth, Dickinson, Franklin and Woodbury Counties had filed objections or planned to do so.
Here's the letter, via the Sentinel:
Dear Board Members:
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors would like to express their opposition to the issuing of permits establishing the application of eminent domain for both the Summit Carbon Solutions and the Navigator Heartland Greenway CO2 pipeline projects.
While we note the many concerns expressed by our citizens regarding the safety of these pipelines, our opposition to these projects lie with the fact that projects of this nature are not public utilities and should not receive eminent domain status. Unlike natural gas pipelines, fuel pipelines, and electrical transmission lines, CO2 pipelines serve no public purpose or utility. The only reason for the existence of these two projects is for the profit motives of their respective investors, many of whom are foreign including large sums from the People’s Republic of China, among other entities. In no way, shape, matter or form do CO2 pipelines serve our people, our communities or our overall economy. The precedent set by the granting of eminent domain to projects like this would mean that eminent domain could be used for any number of projects for which it was never intended. We respectfully ask that you deny permits to these two entities and in the future consider only projects that serve the actual public good.
Sincerely, Don Kass, Plymouth County Board Of Supervisors
Don Kass, Chairman
The article adds:
The letter was unanimously approved by the board of supervisors and was sent by mail and registered on the IUB docket site.
Kass indicated the use of eminent domain “could potentially create a monster with this. It would set a precedent.” . . . .
Read the rest at the Le Mars Sentinel.
There's more about both pipelines in the Dakota Free press articles, CO2 Pipeline Will Make Money for Lederman’s Friends; Diversifying Crops Better for Farmers and Environment and Landowners Near Madison Leary of Carbon-Capture Pipeline; Second CO2 Pipeline May Reach Eastern Edge of SD.
Map: The route of the Midwest Carbon Express, via AgWeek article, World's largest carbon capture pipeline aims to connect 31 ethanol plants, cut across Upper Midwest. Source is Summit Carbon Solutions, so lots of glitter in the infographic part of the map.
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