Gov. Burgum says Summit carbon pipeline will get approval in ND; Iowa hearings set to begin

DES MOINES, Iowa — Campaigning in Iowa for the Republican presidential nomination, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said he is confident that a controversial carbon pipeline will be built despite a setback.

The

North Dakota Public Service Commission on Aug. 4 rejected a route permit application

from Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions. In North Dakota, the three members of the PSC are elected, unlike Iowa, where the governor appoints the three members of the IUB.

Iowa Radio quoted Burgum f

rom the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 10 as saying, “I have every expectation that pipeline is going to (be) approved in North Dakota. There is going to be a reconsideration of that process I’m sure, and as they have done in the past, they’ve been super accommodating in routing around. If you’ve got a farmer that doesn’t want a big check for an easement, their neighbor probably does and they’ll keep making adjustments.”

The

Iowa Utilities Board is set to begin its hearing process on the Summit permit application

on Aug. 22.

Live video will be available through the IUB.

Summit’s project is one of three carbon capture projects in the works in Iowa. Iowa is the nation’s top ethanol-producing state, but the Sierra Club has led landowner resistance to the hazardous liquid pipelines.

“We have been fighting the same fight in Iowa as North Dakota,” the Iowa Sierra Club said in its August newsletter. “If Summit failed to meet the burden of proof there, they have failed to meet it here as well.”

The possible use of eminent domain to force landowners to provide a right of way for the pipeline has been a primary issue for landowners, along with concerns about safety, damage to farmland, and property values.

Summit had originally hoped to start construction in 2023 on what it calls the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project, piping greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage site in western North Dakota.

Summit says the project will benefit the ethanol industry, corn growers and the environment.

But Summit has yet to obtain permits for its 2,000-mile pipeline and will need to restart the permit process in North Dakota.

Burgum has been a vocal supporter of carbon capture projects and joined Summit CEO Bruce Rastetter in North Dakota to help announce an investment by oil company Continental Resources into the project.

Burgum also sits on the three-member North Dakota Industrial Commission that has authority over carbon sequestration permits in the state.

Summit has partnered with Minnkota Power Cooperative to have access to their sequestration site, Project Tundra. The company says it has acquired nearly 90% of the pore space rights within its own sequestration sites in North Dakota.

Summit says it has obtained 80% of the voluntary easements for its pipeline route in North Dakota, but that route is subject to change after the PSC’s ruling.

Summit says it plans to reapply for a route permit in North Dakota and address concerns of the PSC, including an alternate route around the city of Bismarck.

“Summit is looking at plans again and will address those issues in our reconsidered application, including reroutes. The company is determined to get this right for everyone involved,” the company said in a news release.

Meanwhile, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission is set to restart hearings on the Navigator CO2 carbon pipeline project on Aug. 24.

That five-state pipeline has a planned sequestration site in Illinois.

Reach Agweek reporter Jeff Beach at jbeach@agweek.com or call 701-451-5651.