Carbon pipelines pose a risk

In addition to all the well documented attempts by the CO2 pipeline companies to use eminent domain, coercion and public influence through advertisement to ram their pipes through the state of Iowa and adjacent Illinois, South and North Dakota there is the very real danger potential of CO2 leakage should the succeed.

A well written article by Allan Childs and presented to the Iowa Utilities Board on Oct. 24, 2022 in opposition to the pipeline lays out the severe safety risks to the public should a pipeline rupture. The 13-page article details how much pressure a pipeline would have in it and the volume that would be released should a break occur. It identifies a 10-mile section (proposed lengths between shut-off valves) of CO2 and the potential size of the CO2 cloud that would form. Visualize that cloud to cover 355 acres to a depth of six feet in height on a windless day. The chances of a person surviving in that cloud are nil. Your lungs need oxygen, your vehicle needs oxygen and rescuers need oxygen.

To quote just a portion of Mr. Childs rebuttal,

“Carbon dioxide is an asphyxiant, meaning that life-forms requiring oxygen via respiration to live, will suffocate as CO2 displaces most of the atmospheric oxygen. If deprived of oxygen, animal life-forms such as humans, pets, wildlife, and livestock will suffer irreversible brain damage and likely brain death in five to 10 minutes. A human who unknowingly enters a cloud of CO2 is not able to use a vehicle for escape as CO2 also renders fossil-fuel-powered vehicles inoperable.

A human that unknowingly enters a cloud of colorless and odorless gas will not be able to determine a safe exit strategy.

• Where are the boundaries of the gas cloud?

• What is the direction of flow?

• Which direction provides a safe exit path?

• How are the current weather conditions affecting the flow of gas?”

Those are alarming facts and pose a danger to the public, livestock, pets and wildlife in the path of these proposed pipelines.

Mr. Childs goes on to offer an alternative to these pipelines. He proposes to convert the CO2 at is source to urea via chemical conversion. Space here does not permit the entire process to explained, however the benefits are as follows:

• Urea is a fertilizer marketable to local Iowa farmers and gardeners.

• Urea is a chemical feedstock that can also be used in the production of polymers, adhesives, and resins.

• Urea is a solid which is easily stored, safely transported, and a lower risk to human health than CO2.

• Urea is not an explosive chemical as is ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Urea synthesis does not require a dangerous lengthy pipeline filled with a high-pressure volatile liquid, CO2.

The introduction of CO2 pipelines that compress CO2 for ease of shipment and a carbon credit benefit is not about protecting anything other than someone’s pocketbook.

The Izaak Walton League is all about protecting our environment. We stand behind alternative pipeline options and this option, converting CO2 to urea, needs to be further explored and communicated to the public.

Dale Braun is Iowa Division president if the Izaak Walton League of America.