By Mari Radtke
On Tuesday August 17, two very different pipeline projects affecting O’Brien Count were discussed. Evan Del Val spoke on behalf of ISG Engineering. ISG represented the O’Brien County Supervisors during the installation of Dakota Access. Their role is to monitor the work of the pipeline installation and ensure it meets all requirements. The company also acts on behalf of landowners in the event of a dispute. They intervene to determine an equitable resolution. They, too, have very strict rules to abide by in order to act.
Del Val informed the supervisors of 2 parties interested in building ethanol pipelines through parts of O’Brien County. The 2 parties are Summit Carbon Solutions and Heartland Greenway Systems. The effort of these two companies is to capture carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from various sources including ethanol plants, compress the CO2 into liquid and transport it across the Midwest to underground storage areas. Summit Carbon Solutions states on its website that the underground storage areas are in deep geologic storage locations in North Dakota. The idea is to protect the atmosphere from warming gasses or climate change. Del Val was seeking a contract with the county, the same as with Dakota Access.
Pipeline builders are required to pay for the inspection service. The county serves as a pass-through for the transaction in that the county is paid by the pipeline builder and ISG would be paid by the county.
These pipelines are in the very preliminary stages. Thirty-two Iowa counties are affected. The pipeline builders are required to host public meetings in each affected county. O’Brien County’s first public meeting for this project is scheduled for September 22 at 12 noon in the Sheldon Community Center. Summit Carbon Solutions is hosting the meeting.
Several engineering details were discussed: line size and type, easement sizes expected, materials used, pump and compressor stations were all part of the discussion. Many of the details are not yet available. The first map was submitted to Iowa Utilities Board on August 11, 2021 and indicates 33.84 miles of compressed CO2 through O’Brien County. The current proposal traverses O’Brien County east to west just south of Primghar and is quite straight.
Leaks from underground storage are expected to return to a gas state and evaporate. The current position is that CO2 leaks are very different than crude oil. The project is 18-24 months out from construction.
The board of supervisors signed a letter of intent to have ISG provide inspection services for the carbon capture pipelines currently in planning stages to go across O’Brien County.
Forest Carroll spoke about a proposed pipeline to connect large dairy producers in and near O’Brien County. Digesters are being installed at Van Es Dairy near the Osceola border. The plan is to connect Van Es with Legacy Dairy to transport capture and transport natural gas produced from animal waste. The pipelines would eventually connect to the larger natural gas transportation pipelines. Other dairies expected to be connected with the project are Roorda Dairy and Black Soil Dairy. Carroll was updating the supervisors with the progress in obtaining agreements to build on private property. This project also features a northern piece and a southern piece. Builders have asked to build in right of way if they cannot get agreement with private property owners.
The project calls for a total of 20.5 miles through O’Brien County. So far up to 4 miles of pipeline in the ROW has been reduced to 1.5 miles in the southern route. The northern route has gained slightly. Need for ROW construction has reduced from 6.8 miles to 6.0 miles. Supervisor want more. They are asking for the project to limit itself to no more than 20% of it being in the ROW.
Another concern of the supervisors is competing with private landowners. They do not want private landowners to not get a stream of easement income because ROW was used for less money. Osceola County denied roadway access for this project. Talks are on-going with landowners and some rerouting is underway, but the gas would move at 150 psi. Turns in the pipe route should be avoided.