Editor’s note: This version includes corrected comments by Robert Nazario.

Some 25 people heard an update on the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) Carbon Transport, LLC pipeline at a noon meeting in Iowa Falls Tuesday. A few took the opportunity to voice their concerns about the carbon pipeline planned to run through a good portion of Hardin County.

The meeting was the first step in the Iowa Utilities Commission requirements for a permit. Representatives from SCS were on hand to talk about the four required points, including project impact, project details, landowner compensation and protections, and safety.

The supplemental meeting was conducted by the IUC with the specific purpose of providing potentially affected landowners with essential background information about the proposed pipeline project and its route through 24.4 miles of Hardin County. An additional 36 miles is proposed for the eastern part of Hardin County (see map).

The gathering was required as a follow-up to a previous Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) meeting in August, as SCS failed to notify the owners of 20 parcels in the notification corridor. This meeting afforded those owners the same opportunities as those who were contacted ahead of the previous meeting.

The IUC has established procedures which SCS must follow to obtain a permit for construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipeline. One of IUC’s responsibilities is to verify that SCS meets all statutory and administrative rule requirements. This meeting was the first step in the land negotiation and construction permit process.

Jake Ketzner, vice-president of government affairs for SCS, told the audience about the scope and impact of the project. He noted that SCS has partnered with 57 ethanol plants and will be placing infrastructure to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) that would otherwise be emitted into the air. Those gases would be compressed, dehydrated and moved through the new pipeline system. That product would then be stored in underground storage facilities in North Dakota.

Ketzner cited a potential new demand for corn in the form of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) which requires CO2 pipelines. He said in a PowerPoint presentation that CO2 capture and storage lowers ethanol’s carbon intensity which should make it more competitive in a growing low-carbon world.

Ethanol plants must have lower CI (carbon intensity) scores in order to produce SAF. Ketzner said it is a new market that is needed as corn is overproduced to meet ethanol needs. As corn production increases, demand goes down leading to the need for new markets. Likewise, as cars become more fuel efficient, demand for ethanol decreases. He added that the SAF market is expected to be six-times the current ethanol market.

Ketzner also explained the economic impact the project will have on Hardin County. He noted that SCS will pay an estimated $2,948,000 in property taxes each year. Of that, nearly $1.3 million will go to schools, including an estimated $455,000 to AGWSR, $514,000 to Iowa Falls-Alden, and $301,000 to South Hardin. About $183,000 will go to Ellsworth Community College as well. Another $339,000 will go to the various townships and cities within the county, with another $1.139 million going to the county’s general fund.

Just within the Iowa construction phase, the investment is $4.5 billion with $150 million generated in taxes. Total jobs are estimated to be over 6,000 with $1 billion in labor income.

Kylie Lang, SCS project manager in Iowa, explained where the pipeline is scheduled to be placed. It will be in 38 Iowa counties and include lines in Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota that end at sequestration sites in North Dakota.

The pipeline runs south of Iowa Falls from the northeast to the southwest with a spur connected to POET Bioprocessing in Iowa Falls. The map also shows it passing just north of Buckeye before exiting into Hamilton County. A line also runs to Pine Lake Processors south of Ackley with more pipe running southwest from there and entering Story County.

J.D. Myers, ag and stakeholder relations manager for SCS, discussed landowner compensation and protections. He said land agents will be assigned to each individual landowner for the duration of the process.

“It’s a priority for Summit Carbon Solutions to negotiate easements with landowners that are agreeable for both parties and provide value for both parties,” Myers said. “Easement rights are acquired with the land and are not impacted by future changes in ownership.”

At the heart of the protests against pipeline are two things, safety and the threat of eminent domain. While none of the SCS representatives could 100-percent assure that there would be no issues with the pipeline, they did say that they plan to exceed all existing regulations to see that the contents of the pipeline are not leaked.

David Daum, Senior Director of Health, Safety, Security and the Environment, addressed some of those safety issues.

“Carbon capture and sequestration technology has been successfully implemented since the 1970s,” Daum said. “Capturing CO2 has been done safely at over 40 ethanol facilities and there’s 5,300 miles of CO2 pipelines currently operating today in the Untied States and there have been zero fatalities associated with these operations.”

Lange explained the construction of the pipeline and its placement, noting that the pipe itself will be constructed of high-grade carbon steel with an epoxy coating. It will be placed a minimum of four-feet deep from the top of the pipe to the ground surface.

Once placed, the welds will be tested and then coated. It will be placed in the ground which will be compacted then de-compacted. The final steps are to replace the topsoil and then hydrotesting the pipe to 125-percent of operating pressure. That test will be conducted for eight hours as final verification of successful construction.

“During construction, we intend to go above and beyond any federal requirements,” Lange said. “Such as the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) which requires us to non-destructive test 10- percent of our welds. SCS has committed to testing 100-percent of the welds.”

Some in the audience even questioned the numbers involved regarding environmental standards.

“Nothing that we are proposing today is new,” Ketzner said. “They are doing this today in North Dakota. They are doing this today in Illinois. They’ve been doing carbon transportation through pipelines for 40 years. There are rules and regulations that we must follow. When we talk about carbon intensity reductions, that’s not us saying what those reductions are. Those are federal guidelines and federal standards that we don’t produce, but we follow.”

Other comments were anecdotal about pipeline problems in other parts of the country in the past. Others strayed away from the purpose of the meeting, mainly dealing with if such a pipeline is really needed in the first place and if it will really make a difference.

“This meeting is for informational purposes on the pipeline construction,” Ketzner said. “The merits of what your discussing will all be taken at a hearing. This is about the merits of the project.”

The argument about eminent domain practices caused the biggest stir, with some in the audience questioning the legality of a private company using such power for private gain. That had several people audibly telling others to not sign anything and to continue the fight against eminent domain.

Robert Nazario, a former candidate for the Iowa House, closed the question and comment portion of the meeting. The Iowa Falls resident has taken a leading role in opposing the pipeline as a property rights advocate.

“This is my county and I want to say to the folks behind me, they (SCS) speak so much about honoring state law and following and complying with state law and exceeding requirements,” Nazario said. “We appreciate that, but you are ignoring the fifth amendment (guarantees due process of law, which means that no person can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process) in its entirety.”

He went on to say that owners and farmers have spent blood, sweat, and tears on their land over generations. Those in the audience came with concerns about the project that Nazario said are basically being ignored.

“Folks behind me, if you sign, somebody says you have recourse – no, you don’t,” Nazario said. “You sign your rights away. I’m not arguing the merits of your pipeline or the scam of this carbon intensity score or the voodoo math. If you hang in there and let them condemn your land and take it, you will have recourse in court. Nowhere in the fifth amendment allows this project – a private company taking private land for their gain. Your blood, sweat and guts are in that land, nobody else’s. It’s for you and your folks that come after you.”

As a punctuation, Nazario added, “We’re in this to protect your property from abuses of condemnation. Don’t sign. Don’t talk to the land agents – God bless them for doing their job – but we have to end abuses and the only we way we can do that is sticking together.”