Kaley Langrell regularly updates the O’Brien County Supervisors on the progress of the carbon capture pipeline project. She is accompanied by a construction manager in most cases, to provide answers for technical construction questions. On July 25 she brought Isaac with her. He is 1 of 2 state-wide construction managers.
This quarter’s “theme” was referred to as “common misconceptions.” She said these are misconceptions they’ve been hearing, some new, some have been part of the discussion throughout. The first misconception she addressed was regulation of pipelines. She identified the regulatory agencies at both federal and state level. The federal agency is Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). PHMSA is under the Department of Transportation (DOT). The 121 pages of regulation from design to maintenance she explained is contained in 49 CFR 195. She said the PHMSA website made the safety code available and “easy to navigate, as easy as a government website can be” for specific questions.
Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) is the Iowa regulatory agency for utilities. Pipelines are also regulated by IUB. Langrell reported that the Public Permitting Hearing for Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline is set for Tuesday August 22. That will live stream for any interested parties. Barb Rohwer reported received 50 eminent domain documents. Exhibit H will be part of the hearing. No explaination of Exhibit H was provided. Langrell was quick to point out that Summit Pipeline was not been granted eminent domain at this point. The county’s 50 documents could be considered notice of eminent domain. She expected the notifications are with individuals that have not yet signed an agreement for the pipeline to transport through their land. She said that a little over 27 miles have been acquired, but was not sure how that transferred into individual easements. The Summit Pipeline route plans to traverse just over 33 O’Brien County miles.
The Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are also involved. Langrell explained there would be a joint permit submitted with the Corps, DNR and Summit for this project. This permit would cover impacts to waters and water quality, flood plains permits, sovereign lands permits. There is also coordination with DNR regarding federal and state threatened species, rare and sensitive natural habitats.
County permitting such as road crossings is also part of the regulatory process.
The next misconception identified by Langrell is that Summit will not repair drain tile if they damage it. She explained that Summit is working hard with landowners and counties with how they cross the tile. She went on to explain the difficulties with knowing where tile might be buried. They have contracted with a drain tile repair company and outlined the temporary and permanent repair process. That repair provided is Ellingson. She went on to share the restoration language of the easement, directing attention to light blue letters, which is the language in the easement. Dennis Vanden Hull asked if a tile system were damaged would the entire system be replaced. Isaac offered some repair process explanation and time limits, including a brief discussion about inspectors roles, saying, “If we damage the system we’re gonna fix it.” Dan Friedrichsen asked about depth. Isaac said they would bury at 62 – 72 inches.
Concerns about liability insurance is a new misconception according to Langrell. She stated that a carbon pipeline on your property should not hinder a landowner from being able to secure liability insurance on their own property, saying, “…and as far as we know, it doesn’t.” She moved on to indemnification. She said the clause holds the landowner harmless in the event of a rupture or other accident.
Use of the pipeline, once built for any use other than carbon, according to Langrell, is not included in the easement language. If the pipeline were sold, the easement language would remain the same. A new owner wanting to transport a different substance through the pipeline would be required to go through the same permitting and easement process Summit is going through now. She again directed the attention of the audience to specific language.
This is the first pipeline built by Summit Carbon Solutions as a company. Partners and builders involved in this project have a collective 250+ years of building pipelines.
Water use by ethanol plants is expected to increase by 10%. She refuted the exponential claim.
In addressing the claim that Summit has not been willing to work with landowners, Langrell noted that the pipeline route has provided over 4000 changes, not all, but most due to needs of the landowners.
Summit maintains that carbon capture is critical to keeping corn and ethanol viable well into the future. She indicated this give ethanol “a seat at the table” in the green energy conversation.
The IUB Hearing is set for August 22. She also reported that two new ethanol plants have signed on to the Summit Pipeline. New
gen in South Dakota and Absolute Energy in Mitchell County, Iowa. These two projects will be separate in the permitting process the one currently underway. Langrell capped her presentation with Summit’s progress in obtaining enough voluntary participation with O’Brien County’s landowners. Langrell reiterated 27 miles representing 80% of the miles needed were acquired by Summit and that 71% of the state’s affected landowners. A bill to require 90% voluntary participation before eminent domain could be used failed in the senate last session.