South Dakota
Lincoln County commissioners push back decision on carbon pipeline rules • South Dakota Searchlight
CANTON — Commissioners in South Dakota’s fastest-growing county punted on four carbon dioxide pipeline ordinances on Christmas Eve, opting to let their planning staff and two new commissioners start from scratch in the new year.
The Lincoln County Commission has wrestled with its approach to carbon pipelines for about two years. Several counties in South Dakota have passed ordinances restricting underground carbon pipelines so strictly that the company proposing a carbon capture pipeline through South Dakota, Summit Carbon Solutions, says it would be impossible to fully comply with all the local requirements and still build the project. The company has also applied for a state permit, which is under review.
Second filing fee for carbon pipeline project raises total potential fees to $1.47 million
The project is a $9 billion pipeline to carry pressurized carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska to an underground sequestration site in North Dakota. The company hopes to cash in on federal tax credits available for activities meant to mitigate the impact of climate change, in this case by keeping some of the heat-trapping gases produced in the ethanol production process from reaching the atmosphere.
Lincoln County is not one of the counties with stricter rules for carbon pipelines than Summit would prefer, though the controversial project has animated discussions about the issue and likely impacted the results of the most recent county commission elections.
Two commissioners, Jim Jibben and Mike Poppens, lost their primary elections to anti-pipeline candidates, one of whom appeared in the commission chambers Tuesday to voice her concerns about the four ordinances up for possible passage.
“I’m opposed to all of them,” said incoming commissioner Betty Otten, who also accused the current commission of being too cozy with Summit to be trusted to make decisions on the matter.
Back to the drawing board
Lincoln County commissioners opted last year to study the options for regulation. An ad-hoc study committee offered suggestions to the planning commission, which held public hearings on the options following the November election.
A state law dubbed the “landowner bill of rights” by its sponsors was on the November general election ballot thanks to a petition drive by pipeline opponents who felt it didn’t do enough for landowners to deserve that branding. The referred law failed to earn support from voters, with nearly 60% saying no.
Pipeline opponents receive cease and desist letters from Summit
The four ordinances up for possible passage on Tuesday were the result of the planning work and public hearings, Planning Director Toby Brown told the commission. Commissioners were meant to pick one, as each would set a different set of guidelines and conflict with one another if passed together.
The first and second options would have put planners in charge of deciding if a carbon pipeline project would qualify as a permitted land use. The planning commission did not recommend commissioners pass those.
The third would have required carbon pipeline companies to seek conditional use permits, which would open up a public hearing and the chance for opponents to challenge the county commission in court if its members voted to give Summit a permit.
The fourth would have barred pipelines in agricultural areas, but allowed them in areas zoned as industrial. With that option, the company could ask the commission to rezone the entire narrow strip of land under which the pipeline would run as industrial land. Voters would be able to refer the commission’s decision on the rezone to a public vote.
Vote faces pushback
Every Lincoln County resident to offer public comment on the ordinances Tuesday asked the commission to send the ordinances back to the planning commission, but not before telling them they’d rather not talk about them until next year.
“This is too important, it’s been too long, and I just think it’s prudent that we have the new commission in there,” said Scott Montgomery of Fairview, echoing the words of half a dozen others in the commission chambers.
Lincoln County’s failure to pass an ordinance is at least partially the result of actions one commissioner took before debate started. Poppens took a deal with Summit for access to his own property, and he’s recused himself from every debate and vote on pipeline regulations.
On Tuesday, though, Poppens did cast a vote, and it was to keep the pipeline discussion on the agenda.
North Dakota approves CO2 storage for Summit pipeline
Commissioner Tiffani Landeen had asked for a vote to table the discussion until January, when Poppens and Jibben will be replaced by the candidates who ousted them in the June primary. Landeen said the timing of the discussion and the weight of the issue for citizens combined to convince her that debate should happen after the new commission is seated.
Poppens, in his last vote before leaving the body, said no.
“Residents of the county, my family personally, we are impacted. So I’m not going to discuss the ordinance, but I am against tabling it. It’s an important issue,” Poppens said.
Also opposed to tabling were Jibben and Joel Arends, who pushed his fellow commissioners to pass an ordinance, ideally one with a 500-foot setback required between the pipeline and homes, schools and businesses. Members of the public had taken time out of their holiday week to offer their opinions, he said, so they ought to be able to do that.
He also said that the county has already delayed making a decision, and that leaving it up to the next commission would be a dereliction of duty.
“We’re in some kind of circular doom loop here,” Arends said. “We just have to put our feet down and say ‘we’re elected to office, we’re accountable, this is what it’s going to be.’”
But Commissioner Jim Schmidt said voting on the ordinances during a day many might be unable to attend the meeting wouldn’t sit well with him.
“Is it an encumbrance for you to come back? Maybe. I’m sorry for that, but I think there’s a lot more that we would hear from when it’s not Christmas Eve,” Schmidt said.
After deciding to take testimony and hearing every citizen who spoke say they disliked all four ordinances, commissioners took their final vote of 2024.
Landeen made the motion to send the ordinances back to the planning commission, on which she serves as the commission’s representative.
No one in the room liked the ideas on offer, said Landeen, a Sioux Falls attorney and former Turner County state’s attorney, whose own take on the ordinances was that they were vague and unworkable. The last option might seem the most palatable to opponents, as it offers the chance to vote down the commission’s choice. But even there, she said, she doesn’t like the idea of having “this weird strip” of light industrial land running through the county for no reason but to make a pipeline possible.
“The language of these ordinances doesn’t do what anybody needs them to do,” Landeen said.
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MISSION, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – In rural South Dakota, miles often separate expectant mothers from healthcare.
“A lot of women out here are left without any maternity care options,” said Rachel Kocak.
In Mission, moms mark their due dates and calculate miles to the nearest delivery location. Rachel Kocak, expecting her third child, said one option just closed.
“We used to have a birthing unit, I think up until a couple of months ago, and they lost their OB. So, Winner is no longer delivering babies,” Rachel said.
Some mothers remember when they could reach the hospital within a five-minute drive.
“IHS, for tribal members, they don’t deliver babies out here or provide prenatal care,” Rachel explained.
Families hope to reach the hospital before the baby arrives.
“So women either have to drive to Valentine, which is about 30 to 35 minutes from Mission, they can go to Wanblee, which is on the Pine Ridge Reservation, or they have to go to Pierre, Rapid City, or Sioux Falls,” Rachel said.
And if the roads are bad.
“I think there are a lot of babies who are unintentionally born at home. So it’s a tough place, I think, for mothers,” Rachel said.
The March of Dimes breaks down government data, showing a large portion of rural South Dakota as a maternity care desert, requiring travel of 38 or more minutes to reach an appointment or delivery room. The infant mortality rate is higher among native American babies born, compared to other races.
Health Department maps show counties in medium blue have 56 infant deaths per 100,000 births. Dark blue counties have three times as many. Grants aim to increase the number of healthcare workers, and funding supports a doula workforce program.
Kocak would like to see doulas and midwives available.
“Great opportunity for anyone who wants to become a home-birth midwife out here. The birth rate is still, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s high. There’s still a growing young population, and just not enough people to help deliver the babies,” Rachel said.
If care were closer, the outcomes could be brighter.
“You know, having the support network can make a huge change in the lives of these young, you know, these babies and young mothers who are building new families,” Rachel said.
The South Dakota Department of Health released a statement to Dakota News Now, which can be read in full below.
The South Dakota Maternal and Infant Health Task Force was created in 2025 to bring partners together to help improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and infants across the state. Their 5-year strategic plan was recently released, which has three priority areas: postpartum care to improve maternal health; safe sleep education and prevention strategies to protect infant health; and systems of care work that improves access, coordination, and quality of care statewide. One of the strategic plan activities that is supported by Rural Health Transformation is the creation of Regional Maternal and Infant Health Hubs, which will create a hub-and-spoke network connecting hospitals, clinics, tribal health services, and community organizations. These hubs will improve care coordination, strengthen referral pathways, and expand access to services for families in rural and tribal communities.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
While the race to secure the nomination for governor has dominated the headlines ahead of the June 2 primary, Republican voters will also choose a candidate for one of South Dakota’s two U.S. Senate seats.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, who is seeking a third, six-year term, holds a comfortable lead over his GOP primary challenger, Justin McNeal, a Navy veteran and business owner from Rapid City, according to the latest poll from News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy.
Here is a recap of the two candidates along with their thoughts heading into the June 2 election. The winner of the Republican primary will meet Democrat Julian Beaudion and Independent Brian Bengs in the Nov. 3 general election.
Hometown: Fort PierreAge: 71Occupation: Insurance broker; businessman; former governor (2003-2011); U.S. senator since 2015In their own words:
Rounds provided the following statement to News Watch:
“Working in the U.S. Senate, I’ve stayed focused on results that matter for our kids and grandkids. That means keeping the government off your back and out of your business and wallet. That means keeping our communities safe and creating a business climate that encourages job growth to keep our kids in South Dakota. And that means safety through a commitment to our men and women in uniform.
This past summer, we worked with President Trump to pass the Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts legislation. Without Congressional action, the average South Dakota family would have seen a $2,500 tax hike this year. Our legislation not only prevented the largest tax increase in American history, but it also provided additional tax relief for hard-working South Dakota families. That includes no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security for nearly 9 out of 10 seniors.
We’ve accomplished some great things, but our work is not done. I am running for reelection to continue bringing results back home to South Dakota.”
Hometown: Rapid City (born in Illinois and raised in Texas)Age: 42Occupation: Business owner (Dakota BioChar); Navy veteran (2001-2007)In their own words:
“I’m feeling the people in South Dakota are ready for a change. The challenge we are running into is that not enough people know who we are, but as soon as they know who we are, it’s an easy decision for them,” McNeal told News Watch in a phone interview. “I don’t have millions and millions of dollars. I’ve been largely self-funding this race up to this point.”
McNeal, who is a licensed pilot, said he has flown his small plane to events throughout the state in an attempt to get his name out.
“I talk to people about the issues that matter and I tell them the biggest thing you can do to help me is tell 10 people about me and to go vote June 2. We need about 50,000 votes to win the primary,” he said.
McNeal is not critical of Rounds and conceded “he is very popular” but said Rounds has not done enough to tackle the country’s growing fiscal deficit.
“I don’t think Mike is doing a bad job. I’m just concerned with the federal debt and the people that got us into that mess are not going to be the ones to get us out of it,” McNeal said.
“This is going to cripple the country. It just seems like politicians are focused on what they can bring to their home district or home state. And the problem with that is every member of Congress is doing the same thing, so everyone is taking and taking without making sure we can pay for it.”
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact politics and statehouse reporter Alexander Rifaat: 605-736-4396/alexander.rifaat@sdnewswatch.org.
South Dakota
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