Hearing set over meeting location for Summit CO2 pipeline

The Iowa Utilities Board will have oral arguments April 12 over where to hold a hearing to consider whether to grant Summit Carbon Solutions a permit for a carbon dioxide pipeline.

Iowa law requires the hearing to be held “in the county seat of the county located at the midpoint of the proposed pipeline.” With the proposed Summit pipeline route sprawling across northern and Western Iowa, this midpoint may be a challenge to determine.

A board order Friday said briefs or written comments on the hearing location must be filed with the board by March 31. The board has an online comment form found here: https://iub.iowa.gov/online-services/open-docket-comment-form.

Summit, based in Ames, is planning a 2,000-mile C02 pipeline through Iowa to North Dakota, with the project focusing on ethanol plants in northern, north-central and Western Iowa.

Summit plans to sequester between 8 and 12 million metric tons of liquefied CO2 per year underground, a process that would make the company eligible for federal tax credits.

Ethanol plant officials hope that by sequestering the greenhouse gases produced at their facilities, they can lower their carbon intensity score and be able to sell the biofuel in states, like California and Oregon, with low-carbon fuel standards.

The Summit project is one of three proposed CO2 pipelines in Iowa. The projects have been contentious with more than a dozen county boards of supervisors opposing the potential use of eminent domain to secure easements for the pipelines. Hundreds of landowners on the pipeline routes have filed written objections.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com