SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Wednesday was the second day of testimony for the Navigator CO2 pipeline application in South Dakota.

Members of the Public Utilities Commission asked tough questions regarding safety and regulations. Some commissioners voiced concerns about approving the pipeline before new safety regulations are announced next year that could allow Navigator’s operations to be grandfathered in.

The PUC also voiced concern over Navigator not releasing the diameters of the pipeline route or their computer-generated “rupture dispersion model.”

“So I think it relates to the fact that those plans are governed, their preparations are governed by PHESMA, and that PHESMA has personnel dedicated to the review and inspection of and providing comments on those plans,” said Mark Hereth, a consultant for Navigator.

According to Navigator’s testimony at the hearing, thirty percent of South Dakota landowners who are on the path of the pipeline have signed easements for the project.

A Navigator spokesperson tells Dakota News Now that every landowner across the corridor received a letter that described a desire for voluntary easement. The letter also included the possibility of eminent domain:

“Our goal is to reach voluntary agreements with all landowners along the project route, though if we are unable to do so we may seek to exercise the right of eminent domain,” the Navigator letter states.

Testimony continues on Thursday.

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