Articles Tagged: Carbon sequestration

Recent polling has shown nearly 80 percent of Iowans oppose the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. But the issue has divided Iowa lawmakers from both parties who are trying to balance competing interests of protecting landowners’ property rights and also protecting the future of Iowa’s ag economy.

The Gazette recently spoke with Tom Ulrich, chief of Linn County HAZMAT team, about what sorts of emergencies the team responds to and how prepared they are to respond to large-scale hazardous material emergencies.

Bill now goes to Senate, where prospects are unclear

If Iowa lawmakers pass legislation blocking carbon dioxide pipelines, the pipelines still will move forward in other states, leaving Iowa out of a tax credit gold rush and forcing Iowa farmers to ship their corn out of state, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

The initial weeks of a permit hearing for Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline will take place during this fall’s harvest, despite the objections of farmers who want to attend.

The Iowa House passed a more than 1,500-page bill that would cut the number of cabinet-level state agencies and eliminate hundreds of vacant positions. The bill now goes to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.

An attorney for Wolf Carbon Solutions told state regulators on Tuesday that it’s unclear whether the company is on track to start construction of its proposed carbon dioxide pipeline through Eastern Iowa in the second quarter of 2024, as it had initially planned.

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, filed objections Monday with the Iowa Utilities Board to oppose pipelines proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures.

The process Navigator CO2 Ventures used to notify landowners of their intentions to survey private properties was scrutinized Tuesday in the first of several expected court trials.

It’s unclear if House CO2 pipeline bill -- if it passes -- would get a hearing in the Senate.

In voting down the bill, Sen. Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, cast doubt on the likelihood of any bill restricting eminent domain powers for pipelines making it out of the Iowa Legislature this session.

Wolf Carbon Solutions will not use eminent domain to build a 280-mile carbon dioxide pipeline through eastern Iowa, according to the company’s permit application filed Thursday with the Iowa Utilities Board.

But the House bill faces an uncertain fate in Senate as ethanol industry says it spells ruin.

The House bill would require pipeline companies to obtain 90 percent of the miles along their proposed route through voluntary easements before being granted eminent domain authority.

Iowa could lose 75 percent of its 42 ethanol plants — with cascading harm to the corn industry — without carbon dioxide pipelines proposed for the state, according to a study commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.