(Red Oak) During the June 23 Board meeting, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution objecting to the Iowa Utilities Board’s (now known as the Iowa Utilities Commission) authority to enact eminent domain within Montgomery County for privately owned and operated carbon dioxide pipelines.
On Tuesday, Kristina Paradise from Snyder and Associates provided the board and the public attending the meeting with a background on the project. Paradise explained that the Iowa Utilities Board had approved the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline and granted the company the authority to use eminent domain to acquire the landowner’s property. Paradise added that in 2021, Summit Carbon Solutions applied with the IUB to construct and operate a hazardous liquid pipeline in Iowa.
Paradise further mentioned that the revision of Summit’s mitigation plan would dictate the actions Snyder and Associates took for inspection.
The second essential item is timing. Paradise says permits must be secured in South and North Dakota before Summit starts construction in Iowa. Summit also needs to reapply for a license in South Dakota, which it has not done yet.
Paradise says some counties have some ordinances in place, and others are sitting on them, waiting to see what will happen. Snyder and Associates have created a folder for each parcel of land Summit proposes to cross in the mainline scope. All inspection reports, photos, and any non-conformances will be filed in the parcel file. Paradise says if an easement was recorded before January of this year, it was downloaded and saved in the parcel folder. The landowner and tenant testifying at the public hearing is also on file.
With the mainline and Expansion project, Summit proposes constructing and operating 42.14 miles of hazardous liquid pipeline in Montgomery County. Additionally, Snyder and Associates, Inc. and Summit Carbon Solutions have begun meeting every three months to review Summit’s schedule and construction plan. Public records show that the IUC granted Summit’s request to hold an informational meeting in Montgomery County in Red Oak on August 27.
