ABERDEEN, S.D.(HubCityRadio)- On Wednesday, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voted 3-0 against Navigator’s request for construction of CO2 pipeline mainly in southeast South Dakota. We got reactions from the Executive Director for Smart Carbon Network, Joe Heinrich & District 3 Representative Brandei Schaefbauer.
We’ll begin with Joe Heinrich who gave his overall thoughts on the PUC decision.
PIERRE — In a unanimous decision, the three-member South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday rejected Navigator CO2’s application for a permit to construct the Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota.
The commission also unanimously refused the company’s request to preempt county pipeline setback ordinances. The ordinances mandate minimum distances between pipelines and dwellings, schools and other places.
In public comments during Wednesday’s meeting at the state Capitol, Commissioner Kristie Fiegen listed a number of reasons for denying the permit, including what she described as a failure by the company to adequately disclose carbon dioxide plume modeling, and a failure to provide timely notices to some of the landowners along the proposed route. The commission conducted a hearing on the permit application from July 25 to Aug. 8.
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The state Public Utilities Commission faces three big choices on Wednesday about the future of carbon dioxide pipelines in South Dakota.
The first is whether to grant Navigator a permit to have a branch of its proposed pipeline go through five counties — Lincoln, Turner, Minnehaha, Moody and Brookings — and collect CO2 from ethanol production facilities at Aurora, Chancellor and Hudson.
The second is whether the state commission should override pipeline ordinances in Minnehaha and Moody counties. Those counties’ commissions adopted the ordinances this year, after Navigator had proposed its route. Navigator wants the ordinances overruled.
The third is what additional conditions, if any, Navigator should face if a permit is granted.
The Public Utilities Commission will decide at a later date whether it will overrule county zoning officials on behalf of a carbon pipeline company.
Friday marked the second day of a two-day hearing in Pierre on the question of county authority, brought by Navigator CO2 Ventures, the company behind one of two proposed carbon pipelines that might pass through South Dakota.
Navigator wants commissioners to shoot down county-level restrictions on pipeline construction its representatives say are untenable. On the first day, a Navigator official named Monica Howard said the rules in Minnehaha and Moody counties represent uniquely targeted attempts to scuttle pipeline projects that backers see as critical to the future of the Midwest’s ethanol industry. Howard testified that the county ordinances amount to 11th-hour rule changes to the permitting process.
In this thought-provoking episode of “Trent on the Loos,” Trent Loos welcomes 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to discuss the current state of the nation and his reasons for running. Kennedy candidly shares his concerns about the troubling direction the country is headed and believes our constitution is under attack. Trent and Kennedy dive into the controversial topic of carbon capturing pipelines, which have been proposed in several states. Kennedy argues that research indicates these pipelines do not achieve their intended purpose and may actually contribute more carbon to the atmosphere. Their conversation highlights the seeming willingness of some elected officials to exploit the country’s resources for short-term gain. Kennedy emphasizes the importance of uniting Americans and preserving the republic in these trying times.
North Dakota’s Public Service Commission threw a major roadblock in the path of Summit Carbon Solutions’ Midwest Carbon Express on Aug. 4 when it voted unanimously to deny the company’s hazardous CO2 pipeline permit. According to PSC Chair, Randy Christmann, Summit “failed to meet its burden of proof to show that the location, construction, operation and maintenance will produce minimal adverse effects on the environment and on the citizen of North Dakota.”
Summit’s proposed route in North Dakota is part of a 2,000-mile, five-state Carbon Storage and Sequestration (CCS) plan to carry hazardous liquid CO2 from 17 ethanol plants in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa to North Dakota where it would be permanently buried underground in abandoned oil wells west of Bismarck. When operational, investors in the $5.5 billion project would reap billions of dollars profit in carbon capture with 45Q federal tax credits. However, without the PSC permit and access to North Dakota’s underground storage sites, the Midwest Carbon Express is a pipeline to nowhere.
The Midwest Carbon Express is on shaky ground all along its multi-state route. Summit is seeking a permit in Iowa with little more than two-thirds of easements voluntarily signed. Hundreds of Iowa landowners refuse to sign and choose instead to face the prospect of eminent domain. Minnesota requires an Environmental Impact Study (EPS) and will not allow eminent domain to be used for this project. South Dakotans are outraged by the lack of action in their Legislature, and thousands have signed a petition demanding Gov. Kristi Noem call a special session.