Landowners Applaud South Dakota Public Utilities Commission’s Rejection of Summit Carbon’s CO2 Pipeline Permit Application
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voted 2-1 to deny Summit Carbon’s CO2 pipeline permit application.
DES MOINES REGISTER: How the Iowa GOP's divide on an eminent domain for CO2 pipeline bill is swaying rural voters
"I'm cheering for the citizens of South Dakota," Tronchetti said. "That's just been impressive what people in South Dakota have done to protect their own private property rights, with the first step being getting rid of legislators that worked for Summit Carbon Solutions."
ASSOCIATED PRESS: A pipeline company filed hundreds of lawsuits against landowners. Now its project is threatened
“…Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press reviewed hundreds of cases, revealing the great lengths the pipeline operator went to get the project built, only to be stymied in South Dakota by a groundswell of opposition from local farmers and landowners. The legal salvo generated so much outrage that South Dakota’s governor signed a bill into law in early March that bans the use of eminent domain for building carbon dioxide pipelines, putting the future of the project in doubt.
The review found that Summit brought 232 lawsuits against landowners across South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa – including lawsuits seeking access to property for surveys. All 156 of the eminent domain actions were brought in South Dakota. Over the course of two days in late April 2023, the company filed 83 eminent domain lawsuits across the state.”
Landowners Win Victory at South Dakota Supreme Court
The South Dakota Supreme Court on Aug. 22, 2024 ruled that Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) has not proven that it is a “common carrier” or that CO2 is a commodity under state law, and so at this time is not authorized to use eminent domain to seize landowners’ property against their will for its dangerous and unwanted multistate CO2 pipeline and underground waste dump. “SCS has also failed to establish that the CO2 featured in this case is a commodity,” the justices wrote. The case was remanded for further lower court proceedings.
SIGN THE PETITION: PHMSA Must Take Action Now on CO2 Pipeline Safety
ADD YOUR NAME. We call on U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and PHMSA to issue a ruling that assures current regulations apply to pipelines carrying CO2 in all phases.
New York TImeS: A Different Kind of Pipeline Project Scrambles Midwest Politics
via New York Times
By Mitch Smith, 3/21/23
“…This time, said Brian Jorde, a lawyer who represented Keystone XL landowners and now represents many farmers on the carbon routes, opponents have a playbook to guide them. Landowners have tried to prevent the pipeline companies from surveying their land, pressed county governments to enact moratoriums on carbon pipelines and signed up en masse to intervene in state permitting hearings.
“From being through an 11-year battle and all the twists and turns and the hundreds of lawsuits” on Keystone XL, Mr. Jorde said, “we’ve got a very well-laid-out plan.”
