A landowner in the path of Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline said it’s improper for state regulators to hold part of the company’s evidentiary hearing on Election Day.
“To attend or participate in the hearing, persons not residing in the local area of the hearing venue will be traveling away from home voting precincts, some a considerable distance or out-of-state, making voting difficult if not impossible for those citizens on election day,” wrote Lisa Ritzert, of San Antonio, Texas.
Ritzert owns land in Mitchell County that is affected by an extension of Summit’s project that is not part of what the Iowa Utilities Board is considering in the hearing.
Rather than modify its first permit request — which had the potential to delay the process — Summit initiated a new permit request in June for a 31-mile extension in Floyd and Mitchell counties to connect to the Absolute Energy ethanol plant near St. Ansgar in far northern Iowa.
Summit wants to build a roughly 2,000-mile pipeline system in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground sequestration.
It initiated its first hazardous liquid pipeline permit process in Iowa about two years ago, and that includes nearly 690 miles of pipe. Because Ritzert’s land is along the extension route that is subject to a second permit, the IUB denied Ritzert’s request to participate in the first process as an intervenor, according to board documents.
Landowners who have not signed land easement agreements with the company and who are subject to eminent domain requests have the opportunity to testify at the evidentiary hearing, but intervenors can participate further by providing expert testimony and by cross-examining witnesses at the hearing.
Summit’s hearing began in August and paused early this month. There are still some landowners subject to eminent domain who haven’t testified.
Due to schedule conflicts, the IUB is unable to resume the hearing until November.
In an order last week, the board said the hearing will resume in Fort Dodge from Nov. 6 to 9 and potentially on Nov. 16 and 17 if Summit has more witnesses to rebut evidence and testimony.
The IUB chose not to hold the hearing on Nov. 10 because it is Veterans Day.
“The board realizes that November 7, 2023, is Election Day; however, the hearing must continue,” the IUB said in its order.
Ritzert filed an objection to that part of the order.
“One might think that the board members of a governmental agency, regardless if not elected themselves, would value the citizenry and voting when making new schedules,” Ritzert wrote. “This is yet one more action in the ongoing pattern of the IUB board members and the Summit hearing counter to public interest or good.”
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