Linn County adopts carbon dioxide pipeline restrictions

Linn County leaders approved new restrictions Wednesday for carbon dioxide pipelines meant to protect areas of future growth near certain smaller cities.

The hazardous liquid pipeline ordinance, approved with all three members of the Board of Supervisors in favor although no such project currently is planned for the county, generally blocks the projects from being built within 2 miles of cities that have development plans with the county, including Bertram, Ely, Palo and Springville. Larger cities in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area do not have the "Fringe Area Plans."

The ordinance further imposes a minimum 1/8-mile separation distance between CO2 pipelines and homes and other places occupied by people.

It also has stipulations for mitigating damage to agricultural land and public roads, and to facilitate better communication between pipeline companies and those affected by their projects.

"This is fairly narrowly focused on economic development," Charlie Nichols, Linn County's director of planning and development, said at a meeting last week. "Economic development is a public purpose of counties, and hazardous liquid pipelines represent both an economic development opportunity for Linn County, as well as an economic development risk."

Such pipeline projects are expected to be a boon for ethanol producers, which could be eligible for considerable federal tax credits for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions and for producing low-carbon fuels.

But the proposals have sparked safety concerns about potential, catastrophic pipeline breaches. Under certain circumstances, they can release plumes of carbon dioxide that have the potential to kill people and animals. Federal officials have said that most pipeline failures result in the gas dissipating in the air, with no injuries.

The county has been considering the pipeline restrictions for more than two years, after Wolf Carbon Solutions announced its intention to build a pipeline system that would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol producers in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to an Illinois storage location.

No Linn pipeline for now

Wolf withdrew its permit application in Iowa earlier this month. The county supervisors then approved the new ordinance in successive meetings.

That pipeline's proposed route crossed the far southern portion of Linn County and went just north of Ely, well within its 2-mile development area. The ordinance allows cities to waive that separation distance if they want.

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Wolf left open the potential for it to renew its pursuit of the project in a letter this month to state regulators, but it declined to comment further when asked by The Gazette.

The company had intended to connect to Archer Daniels Midland facilities, which have by far the largest production capacity among the state's 42 ethanol plants, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

ADM did not respond to a request to comment about its plans now, including whether it might connect to Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed system. That is the only proposal that still is viable in the state and has approval from the Iowa Utilities Commission.

Another company, Navigator CO2, withdrew its pipeline permit application with the commission last year.

A Summit spokesperson declined to speculate about the potential to add ADM's Cedar Rapids site to its network. The nearest connection point to Summit's current plan is more than 50 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids.

Summit has sued six other counties that adopted restrictive ordinances that could impede its project, including Bremer County.

A federal judge sided with Summit in two of the lawsuits, saying the counties don't have authority to regulate pipeline safety and restrict their placement. Appeals of those rulings are pending.

Linn County officials have said their ordinance does not pertain to safety, but it has the potential to affect the routes.

The county declined to comment about potential litigation, but Nichols said: "I do think our ordinance is reasonable, and it has not been put in place with the intent of prohibiting these types of projects."

The ordinance requires pipeline companies to meet all its requirements before it starts construction in the county.

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