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PIERRE, South Dakota — A series of five meetings have been scheduled in South Dakota to gather public input on one the controversial carbon capture pipelines planned to run through the state.
Summit Carbon Solutions filed for a permit with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission earlier this month to build a pipeline that would run through 18 counties in the state.
Summit SD Map by inforumdocs on Scribd
The main trunk of Summit's Midwest Carbon Express pipeline is planned to run from Iowa, through South Dakota to western North Dakota, where liquid carbon dioxide can be pumped underground for permanent storage. There also would be feeder lines from Minnesota and Nebraska.
The $4.5 billion project would gather carbon from 31 ethanol plants, 11 of them in South Dakota, allowing the plant to sell fuel for a premium on the low-carbon market.
Here is the schedule for the South Dakota meetings (all times Central):
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Tuesday, March 22
Sully Buttes High School Gymnasium, 500 S. Eighth St., Onida, 5:30 p.m. CDT
Wednesday, March 23
Washington Room, Ramkota Conference Center, 3200 W. Maple St., Sioux Falls, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 24
De Smet Event Center, 705 Wilder Lane, De Smet, noon
Redfield School Auditorium, 111 E. Sixth Ave., Redfield, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, March 25
Northern Room, Ramkota Hotel, 1400 Eighth Ave. NW, Aberdeen, noon
While not specific to the pipeline, PUC commissioners and staff also will meet with the public at the Sioux Empire Home Show, Feb. 25-27, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center & Arena.
Public comments also can be submitted the PUC by email at PUC@state.sd.us
Some comments already submitted show the controversial nature of the pipeline.
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A comment from Kevin and Kay Lapka of Leola, South Dakota, read, in part:
"We object to a hazardous material like CO2 in liquid form at great pressure pumped across any land in our great state of South Dakota.
"We object to the company tactics of trying to gain permission for surveying, being told no, and still trespassing. SCS has hassled landowners with phone calls and home visits."
A letter from the McPherson County Commission, filed before the Summit application was submitted, said the commission had passed a moratorium on new pipelines to carry hazardous materials in the county, citing safety risks.
The South Dakota PUC guide to siting pipelines notes that "the PUC does not have a role in the eminent domain process, which is handled in the circuit court system.
"Landowners with concerns about these issues should seek advice from their personal attorney."
Kristie Fiegen, vice chair of the three-member PUC, has disqualified herself from the Summit proceedings because of a conflict of interest because a family member owns land along the proposed route.
She has requested that Gov. Kristi Noem appoint an elected constitutional officer, though not the attorney general, as a replacement.
