The carbon project would run through Cerro Gordo, Hancock, and Kossuth Counties in north central Iowa. Summit also recently withdrew a water withdrawal request in Redfield, South Dakota. Summit’s project and some associated permits have been denied in South Dakota, North Dakota, and targeted counties in North Dakota.

Summit has been working with the IDNR to obtain water withdrawal permits, air quality permits, wastewater permits, sovereign land permits, public land easements, and more. In a news release, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter said that Summit created 13 LLCs for each of the capture facility permits. It maintains that until recently, landowners, environmentalists and other opposition members were unaware of these LLCs.

“We have major concerns about Summit’s water usage in terms of transparency around quantity needed,” Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Conservation Coordinator Jess Mazour said. “We do not believe that water for carbon pipelines is a beneficial use of Iowa’s public water supply.”

Sierra Club Iowa Chapter is also concerned about Summit’s air quality permit requests. One of the air emissions that would be introduced into the atmosphere is triethylene glycol, a product used in the CO2 dehydration process. Sierra Club Iowa Chapter officials said that triethylene glycol is toxic to kidneys and the nervous system.

“Summit doesn’t just want our land and our public tax dollars, they want our water access to sovereign lands and resources, and to emit dangerous pollutants into our water and air,” Mazour said. “This is all risk for Iowans and all reward for Summit. All permit requests from Summit Carbon Solutions should be denied.”

Sierra Club Iowa Chapter is reviewing all approved and pending permit requests to provide written comment and consider appealing any of the approved permits.