Summit submits revised carbon pipeline route app in North Dakota

DES MOINES — Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions has submitted a revised pipeline permit application to utility regulators in North Dakota.

Earlier this month North Dakota’s Public Service Commission rejected the company’s application for a 320 mile route through their state. Summit’s revised application moves the proposed pipeline route nearly 10 miles north of Bismarck’s city limits and according to a statement from the company it addresses other concerns cited by the commission.

The company says North Dakota landowners have signed contracts giving it voluntary access to nearly 80 percent of the newly drawn route. Summit says it has almost 90 percent of the underground space in North Dakota where it plans to store carbon shipped out of ethanol plants in Iowa and other states. 

The Iowa Utilities Board will start its review of Summit’s proposed Iowa pipeline route on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Fort Dodge. The Iowa utility regulators will first hear from landowners who oppose having Summit’s carbon pipeline run through their property. The hearing is expected to last for several weeks.

A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll in March found 78 percent of Iowans opposed having the Utilities Board give the company eminent domain authority and force unwilling landowners to sign contracts with pipeline developers.