Sierra Club tries to block Summit’s pipeline expansion permits

The Sierra Club of Iowa has asked state regulators to dismiss permit requests related to Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline expansion plans because the company allegedly acquired land easements too early.

The group parroted the legal arguments made recently by Bremer County, which seeks to block one of the 14 expansion permits for the company's carbon dioxide pipeline proposal. The Sierra Club wants to halt all 14.

The Iowa Utilities Commission issued Summit a permit last week for its initial 690-mile plan, which is part of a broader, five-state pipeline project that would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol producers to North Dakota for underground storage.

While permission for the initial plan in Iowa was pending, a competing company — Navigator CO2 — abandoned its pipeline project, and many of the ethanol plants that had agreed to connect to Navigator's network then signed with Summit.

That spawned the 14 expansion permit proceedings, and it also led Summit to acquire an unspecified number of easement agreements Navigator had negotiated with landowners along proposed expansion routes.

Those easements would allow Summit to build and operate its pipeline network on land it doesn't own. Acquiring the easements from Navigator has the potential to hasten the expansion plans because state law typically bars pipeline companies from negotiating for the agreements until after they hold informational meetings about their projects in the affected counties. The purpose of the requirement is to help ensure landowners are fully informed about the projects before they sign agreements with the companies.

Summit announced it had obtained the easements before its informational meetings began last month. It has not yet filed a response to Bremer and the Sierra Club's arguments to the Iowa Utilities Commission.

But Summit told The Gazette last week that the affected landowners had agreed to host Navigator's similar pipeline project, for which informational meetings were held more than two years ago. "Summit Carbon Solutions respects landowners and the Iowa Utilities Commission process," Summit spokesperson Sabrina Zenor said.

Bremer County and the Sierra Club argue that the transfer of easements prior to Summit's information meetings violates the law. They seek declarations from the commission that the easements are therefore non-compliant and that the extension permit processes should be dismissed.

In lieu of dismissals, they ask the commission to require Summit to begin new negotiations with the affected landowners after the informational meetings conclude.

It's unclear when the commission will respond to the requests.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com