Iowa Regulators Weigh Hearings on Summit Pipeline's Second Phase Amid Legal Challenges
The Iowa Utilities Commission is considering hearings for a second phase of the Summit CO2 pipeline project, which has been stuck in legal challenges. The first phase of the project involves capturing carbon dioxide from ethanol plants across the Corn Belt and transporting it to North Dakota for underground storage. However, court disputes over eminent domain have derailed this plan.
Summit Carbon Solutions is now exploring alternative destinations for the captured CO2, including enhanced oil and gas drilling in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas. This shift marks a departure from the project's original climate-conscious pitch. The company has petitioned the Iowa Utilities Commission to amend its permit and remove language specifying a route or destination for the pipeline.
Landowners along the proposed pipeline route have argued that it's too soon for the commission to consider hearings, citing the lack of a finalized route and destination for the pipeline. They claim that Summit should decide on the pipeline's final destination before any additional dockets are heard. An Iowa district court is still hearing a case brought by landowners challenging the commission's approval of Phase 1 of the pipeline.