First lawsuits challenge Summit CO2 pipeline approval

A group of Iowa lawmakers, landowners and property rights advocates filed lawsuits suits this week against state regulators who last month issued a permit for a carbon dioxide pipeline.

The lawsuits in state and federal court argue that it is wrong to allow Summit Carbon Solutions to forcibly acquire easements from landowners for its sprawling carbon dioxide pipeline network, and that the pipeline route should avoid a business development park in Charles City.

The litigation was filed late Tuesday by the Republican Legislative Intervenors for Justice, the Charles City Area Development Corporation, several landowners affected by the project and the Free Soil Foundation and others associated with Republican former U.S. Rep. Steve King.

"This pipeline was naturally a bad idea, but as proposed violated Iowa law," according to the lawsuits, which were largely identical.

They follow the Iowa Utility Commission's decision in June to approve Summit's project, which it did last month by issuing a permit. Several groups unsuccessfully sought a reconsideration, and those who wish to challenge it in court must do so this week. The Sierra Club of Iowa indicated it would file its lawsuit Friday, and others are likely.

Summit wants to build a 2,500-mile pipeline system in five states that would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground storage.

The litigation targets the initial 690-mile stretch of pipe the company proposed in Iowa. Summit also is requesting to increase its mileage in the state by about 50 percent to connect to more ethanol producers.

A primary grievance among those who oppose the commission's decision is eminent domain. Commissioners decided that Summit's project would benefit the public and is eligible for eminent domain, by which the company can obtain land easements, with compensation, from unwilling property owners. It needs the easements to build and operate its system on land it doesn't own.

The lawsuit describes the pipeline network as an economic development project that is meant to benefit private investors. Summit and its ethanol-producing partners would be eligible for federal tax incentives that reward carbon sequestration and the production of low-carbon fuels.

Iowa Sen. Sandy Salmon, a Janesville Republican who is part of the legislator group that filed the lawsuits, said Summit's system is not for "public use" and doesn't deserve eminent domain authority.

"This project should not be happening, and we're fighting it," she said in a Wednesday news conference in Charles City.

The lawsuits also raise concerns about the safety of the pipeline, damage to land from construction, damage to underground field drains, due process and, in Charles City, how the pipeline would affect the Avenue of the Saints Development Park.

The Charles City Area Development Corporation has spent more than $2 million to ready the park for new businesses, the lawsuits say, and allowing a carbon dioxide pipeline to bisect it would hinder that development.

Rep. Charley Thomson, of Charles City, who has led the Republican legislator group, said new legislation might be introduced in next year's session to protect landowners, but he declined to be more specific.

"We are working on several different pieces of legislation," Thomson said during the news conference.

In 2022, the Iowa House approved legislation that would have required companies like Summit to obtain voluntary land easements for 90 percent of its route before being eligible for eminent domain for the remainder, but the Senate did not vote on the bill.

The lawsuits name as defendants the Iowa Utilities Commission, each of its three commissioners and Summit.

In response to the lawsuit, the company said: “Summit Carbon Solutions in confident in the Iowa Utilities Commission's thorough review process.”

The commission is requiring Summit to obtain permits for the project in North and South Dakota before starting construction in Iowa.

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