Carbon pipeline company sues Kossuth County for zoning ordinance

By Jared Strong, Iowa Capital Dispatch

Summit Carbon Solutions has filed a federal lawsuit against Kossuth County for the county’s new ordinance that restricts where Summit’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline system can be located.

It is the fourth lawsuit the company has brought against Iowa counties that have sought to impose new restrictions on the project. Summit argues that those provisions are beyond the authority of the counties because federal regulators are charged with governing the safety aspects of such pipelines and the Iowa Utilities Board approves their routes.

Summit seeks to built a pipeline network that would span more than 2,000 miles in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground storage. It would traverse about 30 counties in Iowa, including Floyd County.

The company’s permit process with the IUB — which has been ongoing for more than two years — is in its final throes. Summit says its project would be a boon to ethanol producers by making them eligible for federal tax credits and by reclassifying their products as low-carbon fuels.

Opponents of the project worry about the safety of people and livestock if there is a catastrophic pipeline breach and the damage to farmland from construction. They further argue that the project does not benefit the public sufficiently to merit the use of eminent domain to force unwilling landowners to provide easements for the construction and operation of the pipeline system on their properties.

Summit has so far been successful with its litigation against the counties. A federal judge granted the company permanent injunctions against Shelby and Story counties that bar them from enforcing their ordinances. Those counties recently appealed the judge’s decisions, according to federal court records.

Those ordinances have minimum distances that a carbon dioxide pipeline can be located near cities, houses and other facilities.

Another lawsuit against Emmet County is pending.

Kossuth County supervisors adopted their ordinance last month despite the judge’s decisions in favor of Summit, with the expectation that Summit would also file a lawsuit against them.

The ordinance “is injuring Summit by preventing it from completing — or even beginning — the portion of the pipeline project in Kossuth County,” according to Summit’s new lawsuit.

The ordinance seeks to limit the safety risks associated with a system breach by keeping carbon dioxide pipelines at least 2½ miles away from cities and about a half mile from houses, schools, medical facilities, animal confinements and certain public areas.

The county has not yet responded to the lawsuit in federal court.

Summit is one of three companies that have proposed carbon dioxide pipelines in Iowa. It has hit setbacks in North and South Dakota where utility regulators rejected its first proposals.

North Dakota is in the process of reconsidering a modified proposal, and Summit has said it will reapply in South Dakota.

Navigator CO2 had planned a more expansive system in Iowa that would have transported carbon dioxide to Illinois, but it abandoned the project in October because of state regulatory processes and potential law changes.

The Iowa House of Representatives approved a bill last year that would restrict the companies’ ability to use eminent domain to gain land easements until they obtained voluntary easements for 90% of their routes. The Iowa Senate did not consider the bill, but it could during the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week. Summit has voluntary easements for about three-quarters of its 690-mile route in Iowa.

Wolf Carbon Solutions has a pending pipeline permit application for a relatively modest route of about 90 miles in eastern Iowa. It withdrew its application in Illinois and said it will reapply this year.

— Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.