Des Moines, Iowa — A northwest Iowa state senator who’s proposed five different bills in response to proposed carbon pipelines says the current regulatory process is unfair to landowners.
Senator Jeff Taylor says the bill most likely to pass would require that developers get voluntary access to 90 percent of the land along the pipeline route before state regulators could grant permission to seize the rest through eminent domain.
Taylor is a Republican from Sioux Center — in Sioux County — where the proposed Summit pipeline would pass through. Taylor says since Summit is owned by major GOP donor Bruce Rastetter and former Governor Terry Branstad has been an advisor to the project, it’s been politically uncomfortable to raise concerns.
Taylor says there’s no guarantee the legislature will take any action on the issue.
Dan Tronchetti lives near Paton in Greene County. The Summit pipeline would pass through one of his fields and be within 12 hundred feet west of his front door. He’s frequently at the Iowa Capitol, outlining his objections to having his land seized for the project.
Tronchetti says the contract Summit presented him suggests he could be sued if his combine or farm equipment damages the pipeline buried four feet below ground.
Tronchetti says if the pipeline passes through his farm, he may make the 75-foot wide strip of land on top of the underground pipeline a no-go zone rather than plant corn or soybeans on it.
