FORT DODGE—Anti-pipeliners have taken issue with nearly every point of the hearing process as the Iowa Utilities Board continues to deliberate the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.

A litany of specific complaints fit into a distrustful state of mind for opponents of the proposed carbon dioxide pipeline.

“There are a lot of people who are angry about this process and in disbelief that our government could be run this way. It’s eye-opening,” Jess Mazour said. “But it’s not turning into hopelessness. It’s turning into anger.”

Mazour is with the Sierra Club and has been a leading voice against Summit and similar projects for two years.

Since Aug. 22, the IUB has been meeting Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Cardiff Event Center in Fort Dodge.

According to experts familiar with proceedings like Summit’s, the process has been unusual in format and regulations, leading critics to call the hearing biased in favor of the Ames-based company.

Petition

Some of the issues involve decorum in the hearing itself.

One example was Mazour being told Thursday, Aug. 24, that she could not bring her electronic devices into the room to take notes. Another was outside food or drink were barred from the hearing, although the IUB was selling bottled water for $1.

Anti-pipeline landowners and allies rally Tuesday, Aug. 22, ahead of the Iowa Utilities Board hearing in Fort Dodge on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. Elijah Helton ehelton@iowainformation.com

The rules were clearly posted from the first day of the hearing, which IUB spokesperson Melissa Myers pointed out.

“The rules of conduct posted in multiple locations at the entrance and in the room have not changed,” Myers said.

Those two rules were rolled back somewhat on Tuesday, Aug. 29. The water is now free and Mazour is allowed to use her laptop without stepping outside.

“They definitely have made some concessions based on our complaints from the first week,” Mazour said.

Those concessions have not been enough, Mazour said, and the most substantial issues still stand. That is why more than 1,000 people signed onto a petition delivered to the IUB Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Several criticisms of the IUB hearing are in the petition. It concludes the board should turn it over to an administrative judge in an effort to promote a more open atmosphere.

Anna Ryon

A lawyer on the anti-pipeline side, Anna Ryon is one of the experts in utilities litigation who said the proceedings are unorthodox.

She used to be an attorney for the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate but left in May because she felt the government agency was not doing enough to protect the public’s interests, especially on CO2 pipelines.

“I feel like the Office of Consumer Advocate is becoming more of an observer and less of an advocate. You can tell just by the way the filings have changed,” Ryon said.

The OCA has a representative at the meeting and moved to have Ryon blocked from the hearing. The argument was someone in her situation usually must wait two years before engaging in private practice on issues she covered in the public sector.

Attorney Anna Ryon (right) speaks with an anti-pipeline landowner during a break in the Iowa Utilities Board hearing on the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline Tuesday, Aug. 22, in Fort Dodge. Ryon is one of several lawyers working against the CO2 project. Elijah Helton ehelton@iowainformation.com

Ryon is working pro bono, and the IUB decided to let her stay in the room.

But outside the Cardiff Event Center, her van got towed. It happened Wednesday, Aug. 23, when she and others still were in the hearing.

“I’m still trying to find out exactly who did what,” Ryon said. “What I can say is that I’m disappointed that it was towed and nobody bothered to check in the hearing room.”

The 2019 Ram ProMaster has served as her mobile office during the hearing. Her documents for anti-pipeline landowners and everything else she needs are in it.

She also has been living out of the van during the hearing. A Des Moines resident, she can’t afford a hotel room in Fort Dodge, so she’s been sleeping at a nearby campsite.

Ryon and her friends were able to call in favors to recover the van from the impound lot after hours, but it still rattled her and Mazour.

Myers acknowledged the tow happened but said it was at the request of the event center.

Timeline

More than her personal issues, Ryon said the hearing’s format has been vague, confusing and unhelpful for landowners fighting the pipeline.

While an exact hearing schedule isn’t set, there is a general order of testimony:

• Landowners on the pipeline route, also known as Exhibit H.
• Formal argument from Summit Carbon Solutions.
• Intervening landowners and other interest groups.
• Summit’s closing rebuttal.

Exhibit H’s wrapped Thursday, Aug. 31, although Ryon and other lawyers only found out when it was announced at the end of that day’s proceedings. Summit starts testifying Tuesday, Sept. 5.

“I guess I am now going to have a very busy weekend. I did not know that before. There was no advance warning whatsoever,” Ryon said.

The unknown and seemingly volatile timeline is one of the other complaints cited in the petition Mazour championed.

Brian Jorde — an attorney representing many Exhibit H landowners who fear eminent domain will force the pipeline on their property — concurred with Ryon and Mazour that the hearing’s structure has been haphazard.

“How am I supposed to prepare? We’re just supposed to sit here for weeks on end waiting? It’s crazy. That would never happen in a courthouse. Total nonsense,” Jorde said. “They’re just kind of making it up as they go.”

Forward

Anti-pipeliners have other avenues to scuttle Summit’s plans.

Even if the IUB signs off the project, Mazour said the movement is prepared to go to court.

“Everything leading up to this hearing, how it’s been run, is setting us up for some pretty serious due-process violations. I think this is going to be appealed no matter what happens,” she said.

There also will be pressure on the Iowa Legislature to take action once it’s back in session in January, although Republican leadership there has killed any efforts to mitigate CO2 pipelines.

If nothing else, anti-pipeliners aren’t going down without a fight in Fort Dodge.

“At the end of this, we will have made it very easy for the IUB to do the right thing and vote ‘No,’” Mazour said. “There’s still a lot of hope that we can stop these pipelines.”