In Iowa, a tale of two carbon dioxide pipelines converge
October 4, 2023

(The Center Square) – As the hearing for one carbon dioxide pipeline goes into its seventh week on Tuesday, hearings for a second one won’t happen for now at least.

The Iowa Utilities Board will continue to hear from residents in the path of a proposed pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions. Traversing through five states, South Dakota and North Dakota regulators have rejected the pipeline. The North Dakota Public Utilities Commission said Summit can reapply.

A company representing a second CO2 pipeline asked the Iowa Utilities Board to cancel hearings on its proposed 1,300-mile pipeline that would also run through Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and South Dakota.

Navigator Heartland Greenway said in a filing in Iowa’s Polk County County District Court that it shares an issue over the release of its mailing list. The company asked to continue its case until the Summit case is settled, which will likely not happen until next summer, according to documents filed with the Iowa Utilities Board.

South Dakota regulators denied Navigator’s request on September 6.

Nebraska-based attorney Brian Jorde of Domina Law Group represents hundreds of residents affected by the pipelines. He told The Center Square he expects the Iowa hearings on the Summit pipeline to go past this week.

“There are more miles in Iowa, more affected people in Iowa, so consequently the pool of people that are outraged is larger and therefore more people that want to testify,” Jorde said.

About 720 miles of the $5.5 billion, 2,000-mile pipeline would run through Iowa.