Carbon Pipeline Builder Proposes Meeting Dates to Review Iowa Expansion Plans

The company, which recently won approval from state regulators for its carbon dioxide pipeline system in Iowa, wants to begin applying for expansion of that system starting in late August.

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed new dates for public information meetings in 23 counties that would span about four weeks, according to documents recently filed with the Iowa Public Utilities Commission, formerly known as the Iowa Board of Public Utilities. The first meeting would be Aug. 26 in Adams County.

The company must hold meetings in affected counties before it can negotiate with landowners for easements and file permit applications to build the extensions.

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The 14 additional ethanol plant branches proposed in Summit’s initial proposal would increase the size of the Iowa system by about 341 miles, or about 50 percent. The IUC said last week it would grant Summit a permit for the company’s initial proposal, which includes about 690 miles of pipeline.

The company hopes to transport carbon dioxide captured by ethanol producers in five states to North Dakota to store it underground. The IUC has stipulated that Summit cannot begin laying pipelines in Iowa until it obtains the necessary permits in the Dakotas. It has said the company could use expropriation to force reluctant landowners to use their properties for the project.

North Dakota regulators are studying Summit’s pipeline route in the state and whether the company could inject greenhouse gases into the ground. Summit said it will reapply for a pipeline permit in South Dakota this month. The company hopes to begin construction next year.

Each extension will need its own permit

The IUC rejected requests from pipeline opponents to consider the extensions at the same time as the original proposal. The extensions and their route maps were released in March while the initial permitting process was still underway. Some argued, unsuccessfully, that parts of the system’s route should be rerouted to shorten its overall length.

Instead, each extension of the original route will be subject to individual permits. Summit had hoped to hold informational meetings on that in April and May, but the commission rejected those dates without providing a reason.

In late June, Summit presented new maps of the extension routes that increased their total length by about a half-mile. One notable change occurred in Hardin County, where a proposed route moved slightly closer to Iowa Falls.

The proposed new meeting schedule – which has not yet been approved by the IUC – runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 20 in the following counties: Adams, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Clay, Fayette, Floyd, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Ida, Kossuth, Mitchell, Montgomery, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Webster and Worth.

The planned routes do not cross Buchanan County, but an ethanol plant near Fairbank is on its border with Fayette County.

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This article was originally published on the Des Moines Register: Summit proposes dates for meetings on Iowa carbon pipeline expansion