New requirements for the company that has a permit to build a carbon pipeline and for the state regulators that granted the permit have cleared initial review in the Iowa House.

One bill would require Summit Carbon Solutions to show it has enough insurance to cover all damages from a pipeline rupture. Cynthia Hansen’s family owns land in Shelby County that’s in the pipeline’s path. “We already have our letter from our insurance company saying that we cannot get liability insurance on this piece of ground if this pipeline goes through because (liquified carbon) is considered a pollutant, so that puts us at great risk if the pipeline would rupture,” Hansen said early this morning at a subcommittee hearing on the bill. “I mean, we would go bankrupt.”

Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the cost and liability if there’s a rupture would hit property owners as well as local governments who’d have to respond to the disaster.

“It is the local county supervisors, law enforcement, EMT personnel, fire fighters that will be responsible for the safety of their citizens,” Holt said, “and it also appears that counties will be left holding the bag, (along with) landowners, should something go wrong.”

In a written statement provided to Radio Iowa, a spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions said in order to secure its pipeline permit, the company was required to have at least a $100 million insurance policy and the ability to compensate landowners for damages from construction.

The other bill would require members of the Iowa Utilities Commission to attend the commission’s hearings and informational meetings. Holt said House Speaker Pat Grassley attended a public meeting scheduled by the agency, but no one from the commission was there to hear comments from the public.

“This was confirmed for me when we had an informational meeting in Holstein, in Ida County. I was there. No commissioners were there,” Holt said. “Unfortunately, this seems to fit the pattern of arrogance toward property owners that has been on display throughout this entire process by the Iowa Utilities Commission when the leadership changed.” Read More