The Iowa Utilities Board must uphold the rule of law

In this country, we claim to govern according to high principles that uphold “the rule of law” — principles that can be described in terms of just law, accountability, accessible and impartial justice, and open governance.

But lately the Iowa Utilities Board — a governmental body comprised of three, unelected officials appointed by the governor — has been undermining these principles. When it comes to the ongoing hearing related to Summit Carbon Solution’s CO2 pipeline application, the IUB has been making up the rules as they go.

Let’s look at the four universal principles that have been violated:

1. Just law. The IUB has been unreasoned in their denial or acceptance of the right of intervention to parties who applied. For example, the Board invited other CO2 pipeline companies — Navigator and Wolf — to participate in Summit’s docket on issues of safety and preemption last fall, while denying landowners along those same routes any opportunity to participate in the hearing.

2. Accountability. Although the IUB designated a presiding officer to propose decisions on disputes related to the discovery of evidence, the board has modified or refused to enforce the presiding officer’s judgments on key issues of safety and economics when it received them. This resulted in delays that, given the IUB’s self-imposed compressed timeline, posed a severe disadvantage to parties cross-examining Summit’s witnesses.

3. Accessible and impartial justice. By fast-tracking the start of Summit’s hearing, the IUB knowingly placed Iowa’s proceedings in conflict with South Dakota hearing dates that had been set since January, effectively double-booking the attorney who has been hired by landowners in both states. Moreover, the harvest season has already begun, and farmers who face condemnation are being forced to check a schedule that the IUB posts only week-to-week in order to decide whether they must travel to Fort Dodge to defend their property against eminent domain.

4. Open governance. The hearing venue arranged by the IUB has not been large enough to accommodate all interested parties. And on the third day of the hearing, OverWatch security — the same security company employed by Summit in access disputes with landowners — inexplicably banned cellphone and laptop use by certain attendees, prohibiting landowners from taking anything but handwritten notes.

The seriousness of these and other violations cannot be overstated. The hearing on Summit’s application is unprecedented. Hundreds of Iowans face the condemnation of their land at the behest of a private corporation. Remember, the hearing involves them because they chose to stand up for values more enduring than corporate dollars. They have commended their hope for fairness and justice into the hands of fellow Iowans, on the IUB. They deserve a hearing that upholds their right to participate, to discover evidence in a timely fashion, to be represented by skilled attorneys and to be respected and welcomed at the public proceedings.

Last month, North Dakota’s Public Service Commission denied Summit’s CO2 pipeline application. Recently, local counties in North Dakota also denied Summit’s application for injection wells. South Dakota Public Utilities Commission denied Navigator’s CO2 pipeline application on Sept. 11. In those states, the voices of the citizens prevailed.

We cannot look the other way while the Iowa Utilities Board, alone, proceeds with a hearing that continues to so undermine the rule of law.

Jessica Wiskus lives in rural Lisbon.