The argument that county ordinances should be overruled to build a carbon dioxide pipeline in North Dakota has “far-reaching implications” and should be discussed during a public hearing, according to landowners who oppose Summit Carbon Solutions’ project.

The company seeks to build a roughly 2,000-mile pipeline network in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground sequestration.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission unanimously denied Summit a permit for its pipeline in August because the company failed to show it minimized the impact of the project on residents.

After the denial, the commission agreed to reconsider Summit’s permit application. The company has made numerous changes to its route to assuage landowners and those in the Bismarck area who said the route came too close to the city and might impede development.

As part of that reconsideration process, Summit has asked the commission to invalidate ordinances in Burleigh and Emmons counties that restrict how far pipelines can be placed to cities, houses, livestock facilities and other sites, arguing that they are so restrictive they prevent Summit’s proposal.

The company wants the commission to rule on that request before any future hearings because it is a crucial issue to its project. But a group of landowners said the issue is so important it deserves a hearing itself.

“This is a matter of intense public interest, and the commission’s ruling will impact the powers and rights of the public’s elected officials,” wrote David Knoll, one of the affected landowners’ attorneys. “Both the argument and the analysis should be public.”

Those who have sought to uphold the ordinances have said state legislators intended to allow counties to restrict the siting of pipelines and that Summit is exaggerating the effects of the two counties’ ordinances.

The company cites one element of a state law that says “a permit for the construction of a gas or liquid transmission facility within a designated corridor supersedes and preempts any local land use or zoning regulations.”

It’s unclear when the commission will rule on the landowners’ request. It has yet to set a schedule for the reconsideration process, and state law does not dictate how long that process should take.