Project 2023: Carbon pipeline controversy | News | kmaland.com - KMAland

Project 2023: Carbon pipeline controversy | News | kmaland.com

(Shenandoah) -- For the next two weeks, KMA News presents "Project 2023," a series of reports reviewing the top local and regional news stories of the past year. Our first report looks back at perhaps the biggest story and controversy of 2023--the continuing debate over carbon capture pipeline projects in KMAland.

Throughout the year, Summit Carbon Solution's proposed Midwest Express CO2 pipeline was a major topic in meetings all across the region. In January, the Shenandoah City Council took no action to rescind Mayor Roger McQueen's veto of a resolution objecting to the proposed pipeline stretching almost 700 miles across western Iowa--including counties in KMAland. Approved by a 4-to-1 vote at its December 20th meeting, the resolution also opposed the use of eminent domain in acquiring property for the pipeline, Both supporters and opponents stated their cases on the project. Opponents challenged Summit's safety claims. Marty Maher, who owns property near Imogene, says the proposed pipeline carries the risk of a mass casualty incident if it ruptures.

"You've got a new assisted living facility going up out here on the west side of Highway 59," said Maher. "You know, if you had a school, you have to have mandatory evacuation plans (with drills) at least a couple times a year. That happens in other cities in the state of Iowa where they have a pipeline next to a school. You have to have mandatory evacuation programs. You're going to have to do that with the assisted living facility.

"You have to protect the citizens of Shenandoah. That's who you were elected to protect--not Summit Carbon Solutions," he added.

However, SCIA Executive Vice President Gregg Connell urged the council to support the pipeline, and not listen to opponents' comments--which he claimed were intended to scare council members into opposing the project.

"We're not scared people," said Connell. "You ran for the city council, because you cared about this town. If you want this town to continue to grow, if you want to make sure that your grandkids have an opportunity like we did to grow up in this great community, it's important that you do the right thing. And, the right thing is to support the Summit Carbon Solutions project, which supports Green Plains, which supports farmers. Fifty percent of the corn in Iowa goes to ethanol. You eliminate ethanol in Iowa, what do you do to the farm economy?"

In late February, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors held a long-awaited public hearing on the ordinance regulating pipelines carrying hazardous liquid materials. Vicki Rossander, a former member of the county's planning and zoning commission, says the ordinance is designed to protect the county's citizens during the pipeline's construction phase, completion and operation, and decommissioning and removal. She says it also addresses what is required from pipeline companies to prepare the county in case of a rupture.

"Please don't let the pipeline company tell us that ruptures and accidents never happen regarding the transportation of hazardous materials," said Rossander. "Every day, we are now witnessing on our television what is happening in East Palestine, Ohio. We can clearly see that hazardous chemicals are transported over vast areas of the country, and spills and ruptures happen. There is never such a thing as being overly prepared."

Eric Welch is a pipeline engineer/manager with Summit Carbon Solutions, overseeing the project's construction in Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. Welch says his company is already under tight state and federal pipeline regulations, and the county's proposed ordinance would, in effect, stop the pipeline's advancement into Montgomery County.

"We understand that counties have questions and concerns," said Welch, "and, representatives from Summit Carbon would be happy to meet with those representatives of the county to answer those questions. However, Summit does not believe that the ordinance is appropriate as a matter of policy, and more importantly, we know that it would conflict with both state and federal laws."

By unanimous vote, the supervisors tabled the first reading. In July, the ordinance was placed in limbo until further notice after the supervisors approved a motion not to take action. Supervisors Chair Mike Olson says a sentence on page 36 of the ruling clearly sums up the board's decision, and that the county has no home rule on interstate pipeline projects.

"Upon balancing these interests, this element supports Summit," said Olson. "Defendants may not pass unenforceable ordinances in a roundabout attempt to undermine valid federal and state law. That pretty well sums up what Judge Rose took 36 pages to come to that conclusion."

Page County officials also dealt with the issue. In May, the county's board of supervisors unanimously approved retaining legal counsel through Ahlers and Cooney to review a potential hazardous liquid pipeline ordinance.

In late August, the focus of proponents and opponents, alike, shifted to Fort Dodge, where the Iowa Utilities Board held its marathon evidentiary hearing on Summit's application for the proposed pipeline project. During the hearing's third week, Summit Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Powell faced intense cross examination from Omaha attorney Brian Jorde, representing landowners opposed to the pipeline project. After Powell confirmed that the project's purpose was to generate a profit for Summit, Jorde asked who benefits from the pipeline.

"If we're doing a balancing analysis between your proposed project--which you just admitted is for the profit of applicant," asked Jorde, "you would agree that, in effect, the tie should go to the runner here, which would be the Iowans that are opposed to this project?"

"I think the benefits are for more than just Summit Carbon," Powell replied. "The benefits are to the ethanol plants, their workers, and the farmers who supply corn to those ethanol plants. It's the profitability of the ethanol plants that's at play here, as well, as their contribution to the economies in their counties and communities."

Maher was one of the more vocal critics testifying at the hearing. Marty Maher's family owns 332 contiguous acres encompassing three parcels of land near Imogene, and within range of the proposed pipeline. Maher says the pipeline's proposed path is less than 300 feet from his residence and less than 200 feet from grain bins. Though none of his family members are living on his farm, Maher adds they're actively engaged in farming at the site. In emotional testimony, Maher expressed fears of dangers posed to family members from any potential pipeline rupture.

"There's no way I will ever agree to that pipeline in the location that it's at," said Maher. "I've been offered a lot of money. I don't care if I get a dime--it's not going to be fair."

As the year 2023 drew to a close, the IUB had yet to rule on Summit's application. But one major development took place in December, when Chief Judge Stephanie Rose, of the Southern District of Iowa, issued an order preventing Shelby and Story counties from enforcing ordinances they had adopted after two companies proposed building carbon capture and sequestration systems carrying CO2 from ethanol plants and other facilities. More developments are expected on the contentious carbon capture issue in 2024.

In our next segment, Ethan Hewett recalls the stories that shaped Page County in 2023.