Floyd County supervisors receive carbon pipeline update

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A representative of the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon dioxide transfer pipeline gave an update on the proposed project to the Floyd County Board of Supervisors this week, saying the company has been meeting with the county engineer regarding permits to cross county roads and other right-of-ways, and saying that pipeline construction is expected to start next summer.

Kaylee Langrell works for Turnkey Logistics of Houston, representing Summit Carbon Solutions on non-environmental permitting such as road crossings, and she said her primary job is to give presentations to groups such as boards of supervisors on how the project is going and to answer questions.

Langrell said property easement agreements covering 73% of the miles needed for the proposed pipeline through Floyd County have been acquired.

“That is as of Oct. 19,” she said. “I know the last time we were here we were at about 46%, so things are picking up, and we are very happy about that because that is our goal to get 100% volunteer acquisition.”

Langrell said that Summit’s director of regulatory compliance and a project supervisor have met with the Floyd County engineer regarding permits to cross county roads, so those should be coming before the county board soon.

She said Summit has partnerships with 32 ethanol plants in the five states that the pipeline is proposed to pass through – Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.

“The partners don’t have to buy in, they don’t have to pay anything at this point,” Langrell said. Investors such as John Deere, Continental Resources, Tiger Infrastructure, TPG Rise Climate and Summit Agricultural Group will pay for all the construction costs up front.

“And then the 45Q is where they would make money later on, because whoever is invested in a project like this does make money from the 45Q,” she said.

45Q refers to federal tax credits that were originally set to pay $50 per metric ton of CO2 captured and permanently sequestered, but which were increased by the Inflation Reduction Act to $85 per metric ton and also introduced tax credits per gallon of ethanol produced based on an ethanol facility’s carbon intensity score.

“Once the project is completed they will be able to sell into low carbon markets where they will get a premium for their ethanol that they sell and they would split that with us, so that is how we would make the money in the long run,” Langrell said.

Langrell also talked about safety, saying that is the No. 1 topic at meetings about the pipeline.

PHSMA – the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation – requires that pipeline X-ray 10% of the welds in a pipeline, but Summit is going to X-ray 100% of the welds, she said. In addition, the pipeline will be hydrostatically tested with water at a higher pressure than the maximum operating pressure of the pipeline before it is put into the ground.

There will be five check valves on the line just in Floyd County, that will automatically close if sensors observe a change in temperature or pressure in the pipeline, Langrell said.

The check valves are different from pump stations, she said. Each ethanol plant that is part of the system will have equipment to condense the carbon dioxide and put it into the pipeline, so in effect each ethanol plant will be a pump station.

“We really don’t have that many (stand-alone) pump stations,” she said. “I want to say we really only have like six or seven across the project. … I think the only one in Iowa is in Clay County.”

There will be a full-time staff in Ames that will monitor the pipeline and check the valves 24-7, Langrell said.

“We will also have people working and living locally to maintain the line. That’s another regulation. We have to have people every so many miles. They could be there quickly (if there was a problem). We are regulated as far as response time as well.”

Langrell said there is a national program of pipeline safety training that has been in existence for a long time that works with all the various kinds of pipelines and with local emergency management agencies, but Summit will do its own local training as well.

Also at the supervisors meeting this week, the board noted that the Sheriff’s Office has hired current jailer Taylor Isakson as the jail administrator. Taylor had been hired as a full time jailer May 2021. His pay will be $21 per hour effective Oct. 31. The office also hired Teri Bodtke as a jailer. Bodtke is currently working as a dispatcher/jailer in Worth County and is already state certified. Her starting wage will be $20 per hour.

The board also set the official canvass of the Nov. 8 election for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15. That week’s regular Board of Supervisors meeting is expected to also be held that morning instead of Monday next week.