The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club has reported that Summit Carbon Solutions recently requested the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to place a hold on all wastewater and air quality permits needed to complete Summit’s proposed carbon capture and storage project.
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.
When the Public Utilities Commission nuked their carbon-dioxide pipeline permit application last month, Nebraska-based Navigator CO2 Ventures rebutted rumors that it was giving up on the project to pipe carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in South Dakota to holes in the ground in Illinois.
But yesterday, Navigator sent the strongest signal yet that they are giving up on the project. The prospective pipeliner yesterday told the Illinois Commerce Commission that it wants to withdraw its permit application:
The company’s proposed 1,350-mile pipeline system suffered a setback in South Dakota in September when state regulators denied Navigator a construction permit.
Later that month, the company asked to suspend its permit process in Iowa. At the time, Navigator indicated it would wait for a ruling on its permit in Illinois, which was expected by the end of February 2024.
But the company now says it is “taking time to reassess the route and application.”
“Navigator will withdraw its current application with the intent to reinitiate Illinois permitting, if appropriate, when Navigator’s full evaluation is complete,” the company said in a prepared statement [Jared Strong, “Navigator Pulls Its Pipeline Permit Application in Illinois,” Iowa Capital Dispatch, 2023.10.10].
HURON — The Beadle County Commission met on Tuesday morning, with a public comment from Summit Carbon Solutions presented to update the county on the company’s plans after the company was denied a permit by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
The Summit spokesperson at the meeting stated that Summit has “work to do” to get to the table with counties and work within their ordinances, a prerequisite given by the PUC for re-applying. The intention for Summit is to spend the fall coming to agreements with those counties where local ordinances do not match building plans and then re-apply by the end of the year.
On top of that, Summit announced a grant to the emergency management of each county that the pipeline will be built through. The grant will be $50,000, plus $1,000 per mile of pipeline built through the county.
For Beadle, that would mean a total of $87,000. This will be paid with a first installment of $10,000 and remaining funds to be distributed once all permits have been secured.
The commission also convened as the board of adjustment to approve two variances for construction projects that did not meet setbacks. The first was a re-application by John and Jack Wellnitz in Foster township to build a residence on a parcel with difficult shape to meet setbacks. The second was from Tony Broderson to build a new steel frame building in Wolsey that does not meet full setbacks. Both were approved with no comments against them.
The commission heard from residents of Lake Byron regarding suggested harassment of the residents by county staff. After hearing the concerns, the commission stated that the matter is a civil matter to work out between neighbors, perhaps legally, but that the county would not be involved in the dispute.
Commissioners approved two reconveyances. The first was to Daniel Boria in the city of Huron, and the second was to Gene and Betty Sprecher in Wolsey.
Commissioners also:
• Approved the hiring of one full-time and one part-time jailer.
• Accepted the resignation of the WIC/county nurse clerk.
• Approved an on/off sale malt beverage and S.D. farm wine license for J Musil Wines LLC.
• Approved participation in the National Center for Public Land Counties.
• Approved Eagleview agreement to provide aerial photography services for the Equalization office.
The next meeting of the Beadle County Commission is Tuesday, October 31, in the commission room on the second floor of the courthouse.
CANTON, S.D. — The Lincoln County Commission has pressed pause on yet another CO2 pipeline ordinance as a majority of commissioners say they need more time to consider the multiple proposals circulating throughout the county.
The proposal comes from Commissioner Joel Arends, who spent roughly six weeks speaking with county staff and pipeline officials.
Arends said that during those conversations, Summit Carbon Solutions made a series of concessions that he believes are beneficial to residents.
The route of a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline through Lincoln County. Summit Carbon Solutions is still seeking a permit from state regulators. Contributed / Summit Carbon Solution
“We’ve settled on a 500-foot setback from habitative props as well as a … one mile setback from any municipalities, regardless of size,” Arends said. “[Additionally,] they have agreed here in Lincoln County to move their pipeline route back south by two miles.”
The shift to the south, Arends explained, was a result of his push for giving municipalities near the pipeline more room to grow, and called it a “major” concession.
“Essentially, it’s a multi-million dollar concession, because all of the money they gave to pay for easements is going to remain with those people who purchased the easements,” he said, “and they’re going to have to purchase new easements on those lands [to the south].”
Summit — who is working to reapply for a permit after it was first denied in September by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission — also committed to a million-dollar grant program to provide first responders along the pipeline’s route with extra training. Arends said 35-40% of that would be delivered as soon as possible, with the remainder upon permitting.
“In terms of major concessions, I do believe that the pipeline now has got the message,” Arends said confidently, “and they’re starting to work with local communities in terms of what’s going to have to be done in order to bring the pipeline through.”
A ‘rush to judgment’
The proposal from Arends sought to send the ordinance to the Lincoln County Planning Commission with a do-pass recommendation from the county board.
Lincoln County Commission Chair Tiffani Landeen
Lincoln County Commission Chair Tiffani Landeen and fellow Commissioner Jim Schmidt took issue with Arends’ proposal — not necessarily for its merit, but rather for its timing.
“This came on the agenda really late on Friday on a holiday weekend. I’m confident in saying I don’t think the other commissioners have had a chance to look at any of these proposals in any depth,” Landeen said. “I don’t think we’re at a point to make a recommendation, and I certainly don’t want [the Planning Commission] to get the impression that the commission as a whole would be endorsing this particular ordinance.”
As Landeen entertained a motion to table, Arends suggested a 30-day table to put the proposal on the Planning Commission’s agenda for its November meeting. That’s where Schmidt chimed in.
“Commissioner Arends, I’ll commend you for your activity and your digging into this. I don’t understand why we want to rush to judgment on this thing,” Schmidt said. “As our chair has said, there’s probably three competing ordinances that have been considered out there.”
Those other proposals, most of which are citizen-driven, call for larger setbacks of 1,300 or 1,800 feet, Schmidt said, advocating for more time to review and publicly discuss all options.
“I don’t have any heartburn if we waited until the first of the year — until we’ve had time to publicly discuss this thing in an open forum where people can put their input,” Schmidt said.
Arends contended that it’s time to address the pipeline questions that have been circulating for some time.
“This thing’s been percolating now for a year. You don’t need another year, being a little facetious of course,” Arends, a lawyer, said. “I think you just
Lincoln County Commissioner Jim Schmidt
need to cowboy up and say we’re gonna do it, put our big boy pants on, and put it to the people in [planning and zoning] and do it in November.”
“You’re well spoken, counselor, but there’s no way in my interpretation that we were not going to come up with some kind of ordinance. We will have an ordinance, we will have that,” Schmidt replied. “If it takes 30 or 60 days, fine.”
During a period of public comment, roughly a dozen members of the public spoke on the agenda item, most of whom thanked the commission for considering a table of the ordinance.
Ultimately, the commission voted 4-0, including Arends, to table the pipeline ordinance for a period of 60 days. Commissioner Michael Poppens recused himself from discussion as well as the vote.
Ordinances are already in place in Minnehaha County.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – South Dakotans First (SDF) officially launches as a statewide grassroots coalition of organizations and individuals committed to safeguarding property rights from out-of-state corporations.
Impacted property owners and representatives from partner organizations will speak to the coalition’s stand against pipeline companies exploiting eminent domain laws and unjustly taking land from South Dakota’s property owners.
South Dakotans First believes no private company should be able to rob South Dakota landowners of their property rights. This abuse of authority directly threatens the well-being and rights of local communities and overrides local control; setting a dangerous precedent.
South Dakotans First will share results from their survey conducted in September of this year finding nearly 90% of voters do not think Summit Carbon Solutions should be able to use eminent domain to force property owners to sell access to their land (88%), including three fourths who “strongly oppose” this use of eminent domain by a private company.
We're fighting for our homes and our land, and for the safety of South Dakota communities just like yours. But we can't do this alone, we need your help, so if you can, pitch in and let's make some hay.
We're fighting for our homes and our land, and for the safety of South Dakota communities just like yours. But we can't do this alone, we need your help, by being informed and taking action when it matters most.
