Emma Koehler
AGvocate Digitalist Visionary
The struggle of Iowa’s proposed carbon capture pipelines
EMMA KOEHLER
March, 2023
In a crowded community room within the Waverly Public Library on Feb. 24, Speaker Pat Grassley heard concerns about the proposed carbon capture pipeline that would run through the local area. Many farmers, producers and landowners voiced their opposition without holding back.
“We want to support the ethanol industry while ensuring landowners’ rights are respected,” said Grassley.
Capitalizing on Iowa’s leading role in the ethanol and agriculture industries, three companies have laid out proposed plans for carbon capture pipelines throughout the state.
Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and Archer Daniel Midlands Co. (ADM) with partner Wolf Carbon Solutions are the three companies each spearheading their own pipeline project. Navigator is planning the largest project; 900 miles of Iowa pipeline. Summit plans for 680 miles and ADM with 350 in Iowa.
Of the Cedar Valley, Navigator’s proposed pipeline runs through Butler and Bremer counties, among 36 total Iowa counties. This project also spans across Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. The total cost is estimated to be at $3 billion.
The pipeline will be “spanning more than 1,300 miles across five states in the Midwest that will materially reduce participants’ carbon footprint and further the global goal of carbon neutrality,” Navigator of Heartland Greenway LLC stated in a notice to impacted landowners.
The goal of these proposed pipelines is to capture CO2 through the pipeline and bring it underground to a proposed site before emissions reach the atmosphere. Navigator claims the project will offset carbon emissions, create jobs and bring tax revenue to local communities while promoting the use of ethanol in aiding Iowa’s agriculture industry. They also promote pipelines as one of the safest methods of transportation.
“Most markets are putting a premium on low carbon fumes, so there are things that ethanol plants have been doing to lower their carbon intensity scores but the number one thing an ethanol plant can do is carbon sequestration and that lowers your CI score by almost 50%,” said Nathan Hohnstein, policy director with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.
The public has not held back in their objection or support of the project. Since Nov. 2021 and following Navigator’s first filing in Oct. 2021, the Iowa Utilities Board has received several pages of objections as well as letters of support. Concerns are over the project’s request for impacted land to be put into eminent domain, the disturbance of farm ground and concerns for safety with the long-term use of pipelines. Support stems from growing the ethanol industry in Iowa, maximizing the demand for projects of the agriculture industry and reducing carbon emissions.
Both Bremer and Butler County Board of Supervisors have submitted their letters of objection with the Iowa Utilities Board. Butler County Board of Supervisors stated in their letter, “We agree with those who object to the disruption of our agricultural economy to install a pipeline that seeks to benefit private businesses.”
Bremer County Health Department also submitted a letter of objection stating, “Depending on the concentration of a CO2 leak, symptoms ranging from headaches, nausea, confusion, increased blood pressure, and suffocation could occur within minutes.”
On the other side, Iowa Corn Growers Association submitted a letter of support as they believe this project in lowering carbon intensity is helpful as “the greatest carbon intensity reduction today…”
Property owners who object hold frustrations with the company for requesting land be eminent domain if property owners refuse to give up their land to the project for compensation.
“I just think it’s wrong, you can listen to these people talk about ethanol, you can listen to them talk about carbon neutrality and all that stuff but what it really comes down to is property rights. Nobody is going to be safe from people with a lot of money and all these companies have more money than you or me and they’ve come in now to take your land by eminent domain because they think they’ve got a good plan to make some money off your property,” said Kim Junker, who rents land impacted by the Navigator pipeline in Butler county.
Junker is also frustrated with how it disturbs farm land. According to Naviagtor, once the pipeline is underground, property owners cannot obstruct the pipeline right-of-way, meaning on the strip of land directly over the pipeline.
“It’s going to destroy our farmland, it’s going to compromise our tile or pattern tile,” said Junker.
Legally, there have been four instances of Navigator attempting to access land and landowners denying access, where Navigator has submitted four court-order injunctions. Currently, Navigator does have access to land for surveying purposes following public informational meetings as well as written communication to landowners.
Last month, the Iowa Senate saw five bills addressing the process of requesting land be eminent domain for pipelines carrying hazardous material. Rep. Steven Holt submitted one bill that would restrict building of carbon pipeline, stating no hazardous material-carrying pipeline can be constructed without establishing safety guidelines. The bill also states that appropriate payment for land used for pipeline construction and any damage to crops be issued.
Janice Martins, landowner in Fayette county impacted by the Navigator pipeline, has a different point of view, saying she is neutral on the project.
“I think it’s very, very vital to the ethanol industry. I’ve done a lot of research on sustainability plans for ethanol in the midwest and with carbon capture, I think we’re really going to be hurting to market our ethanol locally and globally,” said Martins, “If we’re compensated and we can do our part to support Iowa ethanol, that is our duty. I think ethanol is the key to keeping good markets for corn, I really do,” she said.
Similarly, Hohnstein said, “We can add more value to the farm economy, to the agriculture economy, and we can diversify more of what we do with what we grow here, what we do best. I think it’s really a win-win, there’s potentially billions of dollars on the line for us to grow here in the state and provide economic growth.” He continued to say, “On the flip side, if we don’t allow these projects there’s the potential where we face economic disaster. If you look at the study we did, if our members are not able to sequester by the end of the decade, you’re looking at, potentially, 75% of the ethanol industry leaving the state.”
As for Naviagator’s expected timeline of the project, construction is expected to begin in 2024. That is if no objections prove to hold strong and no legislation is passed to prevent Navigator from moving forward.
“We need to work as all Iowans, as landowners, farmers, ethanol plant facilities, the pipelines, and work together as to how we can get this done because it is vital to our ethanol industry, which in turn is going to have a trickle-down effect for everything else that happens in the state,” Hohnstein said.
Martins admitted, “The short-term is going to suck but progress takes pain, that’s just the way it is.”