South Dakota
North Dakota Supreme Court sides with Summit in landowner dispute • Iowa Capital Dispatch
![North Dakota Supreme Court sides with Summit in landowner dispute • Iowa Capital Dispatch](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ND-Supreme-Court-justices-_-ND-Monitor-e1717107781429.jpg)
The North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled in favor of pipeline company Summit Carbon Solutions in a dispute with landowners over the right to access properties to survey the land.
The ruling released Thursday affirms a lower court ruling that the pipeline company did not need permission from landowners before accessing property to determine a possible route.
Some landowners have refused to grant Summit access to survey their property as Summit attempts to site its carbon capture pipeline.
Several cases regarding survey access were grouped together in the case SCS Carbon Transport v. Malloy.
Howard Malloy of Bismarck owns land in Morton County where Summit wants to site its pipeline. Malloy contends the property is a prime housing development area.
Iowa-based Summit is trying to obtain property easements for its five-state carbon capture pipeline.
Summit says it has secured more than 80% of the North Dakota route through voluntary easements but some landowners, such as Malloy, have refused to grant survey access.
In December, attorneys for the landowners argued that the state law granting survey access is unconstitutional.
North Dakota law does not require written notice to landowners for survey access and allows survey crews access for projects that would benefit the public to show up at any time. Attorney Brian Jorde argued in December that written notice should be required and landowners should be compensated up front. They also should have a right to challenge access requests in court, he argued.
Without those protections, a pipeline or utility company effectively has an easement on the property, he argued.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a district court ruling, saying that court’s order “did not grant the functional equivalent of an easement, either temporary or permanent.”
Jorde said Thursday that for the courts to deem the statute constitutional, it needed to determine that there were already limits on the survey access. He contends the court incorrectly applied the statute’s limits on the use of the property, in this case a pipeline, and applied it to survey access, where the statute provides no limits.
The ruling did add that landowners could take legal action if Summit damages the land “and unreasonably interferes with its ordinary use, or continues to occupy the land beyond the time reasonably needed to complete its examinations, surveys, and maps.”
Bismarck attorney Derrick Braaten also represented landowners in the case.
“The good thing for landowners is that it appears the Supreme Court is going to narrow the scope of what is allowed in precondemnation surveys and has left open the issue of compensation for any damages,” Braaten said in an email. “We disagree that these kinds of surveys are a background restriction on our property rights.”
Summit issued this statement:
“Summit Carbon Solutions respects the North Dakota Supreme Court’s decision. We are committed to conducting our surveys responsibly, respecting landowners’ rights, and ensuring minimal impact. We will continue to adhere to legal requirements and compensate for any damages during our activities.”
Jorde said he would continue to analyze the ruling and determine next steps in the coming weeks.
Jorde’s Domina Law firm represents landowners across the footprint of the Summit pipeline project, which aims to connect 57 ethanol plants to an underground carbon storage site northwest of Bismarck.
There was a similar survey access case argued before the South Dakota Supreme Court, which has yet to rule. A date for oral arguments in another case before the Iowa Supreme Court has yet to be set.
Jorde said North Dakota’s law would be the most difficult for landowners to overcome.
Meanwhile, the North Dakota Public Service Commission is holding hearings on Summit’s pipeline route permit application. The PSC denied Summit a permit last year but has allowed Summit to address the PSC’s concerns and reconsider the case.
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South Dakota
South Dakota flooding leaves 1 dead
![South Dakota flooding leaves 1 dead](https://images.foxtv.com/c107833-mcdn.mp.lura.live/expiretime=2082787200/7dddb0919d458c95dec8583a1c94887dfd53cae8186b67c9e6f853f5c2384c4d/vupl/19D/443/1280/720/19D44312E91A0FBDBF315AEB9A018857-0-1719270312279.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
River Flood Warning
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South Dakota
South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics
![South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/07/12/PSIF/84a7caac-eee4-4b7b-8d2e-6486f0a9c597-GettyImages-1324792661.jpg?auto=webp&crop=3384,1904,x0,y172&format=pjpg&width=1200)
South Dakota alumnus Chris Nilsen will represent Team USA in the men’s pole vault at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Nilsen is a four-time medalist on the world stage. He was one of three men to clear 19-3 (5.87m) in the Olympic Trials and secure his ticket to Paris. Sam Kendricks ended Nilsen’s streak of three-straight U.S. outdoor titles, setting a meet record with a 19-5 (5.92m) leap. Nilsen and Jacob Wooten tied for second.
Nilsen’s trophy case includes a silver medal from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, a bronze medal from the 2022 World Indoor Championships, a silver medal from the 2022 World Championships and a bronze medal from the 2023 World Championships. His personal best of 19-10 ¼ (6.05m) came during the 2022 season.
Nilsen was a three-time NCAA champion for the Coyotes. He was a seven-time All-American, taking at least bronze at each NCAA Championships held during his collegiate career. He owns South Dakota’s indoor and outdoor pole vault records.
South Dakota
Sweltering temperatures persist across the US, while floodwaters inundate the Midwest
![Sweltering temperatures persist across the US, while floodwaters inundate the Midwest](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/06/23/16/APTOPIX_Severe_Weather_South_Dakota_84578.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
Millions of Americans sweated through a scorching weekend as temperatures soared across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest. One person was killed during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.
From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to California, public officials cautioned residents about the dangers of excessive heat and humidity.
At the borders of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, floodwaters rose over several days. In northwest Iowa, 13 rivers flooded the area, said Eric Tigges of Clay County emergency management. Entire neighborhoods — and at least one entire town — were evacuated, and the Iowa town of Spencer imposed a curfew Sunday for the second night in a row after flooding that surpassed the record set in 1953.
“When the flood gauge is underwater, it’s really high,” Tigges said at a news conference organized by Spencer officials.
Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for 21 counties in northern Iowa, including Sioux County. In drone video posted by the local sheriff, no streets were visible, just roofs and treetops poking above the water.
National Guard troops were helping with water rescues and transporting needed medications lost in flooding.
“Businesses are shuttered. Main streets have been impacted,” Reynolds said. “Hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities were evacuated. Cities are without power, and some are without drinkable water.”
National Weather Service meteorologist Donna Dubberke said parts of northern Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa received eight times the typical average rainfall. And more heavy rain was expected this week.
In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem declared an emergency after severe flooding in the southeastern part. Several highways were closed.
Areas south of Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, had an estimated 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain over three days, National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low said.
At least one person died in the floods, Noem said Sunday, without providing details.
Several rivers, including the Big Sioux, James and Vermillion, were expected to peak sometime Monday through Wednesday night, the governor said at a news conference.
“I want to remind everybody to remember the power of water and the flow of water, and to stay away from flooded areas,” Noem said. “We’ve got a few days in front of us here that’ll be a little rough, but we’ll get through it.”
Emergency management officials in the small South Dakota community of Dakota Dunes on Sunday issued a voluntary evacuation order for the area’s roughly 4,000 residents. Dakota Dunes is near the Nebraska and Iowa borders and is sandwiched between the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers, both of which are expected to crest in the coming days. Emergency management in Dakota Dunes warned residents that a mandatory evacuation could come quickly if flood barriers are breached.
Minor to moderate flooding was expected along the Missouri River, according to officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“As long as the levees hold, we’re not expecting any major impacts,” said John Remus, water management division chief for the corps in the Missouri River basin.
But elsewhere, the heat was the biggest worry.
“It’s more important for people who are going to be outside to stay hydrated, because heat, humidity and low winds, even if you’re in good shape and not really acclimated to it, it could be a danger,” said Bruce Thoren, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oklahoma. “It happens quickly.”
The cities of Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia all saw record heat on over the weekend.
Last year the U.S. experienced the most heat waves since 1936, experts said. An AP analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that excessive heat contributed to more than 2,300 deaths, the highest in 45 years of records.
The National Weather Service warned of the potential for rare tornadoes in the Northeast later Sunday. Tornadoes on Saturday struck in Wisconsin, leveling the historic Apple Grove Lutheran Church, founded in 1893 in the town of Argyle.
“The good news is we are all safe,” Dan Bohlman, pastor of Apple Grove Lutheran, said on the church website.
Marvin Boyd, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Burlington, Vermont, said a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for parts of northern New York as a storm with wind gusts exceeding 60 mph (95 kph) and the threat of tornadoes head toward Vermont near Lake Champlain. It was one of several expected to pass through the region Sunday afternoon.
“It’s an unusual alignment of ingredients for Vermont and northern New York to produce a threat of tornadoes,” Boyd said.
___
Associated Press journalists Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri; Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia; Julie Walker in New York; Ron Todt in Philadelphia; and Michael Casey in Boston contributed reporting.
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