Northwest Iowa — A liquified carbon dioxide pipeline is planned to cut across our area, and there are meetings coming up at which people can learn more and comment on the proposal.
Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC wants to build a 1,300-mile pipeline in five states — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, en route to a sequestration site in Illinois. The majority of the pipeline is hoped to be built in Iowa and, like the Dakota Access Pipeline for petroleum, the carbon dioxide line would cross Iowa from the northwest to the southeast. There would be branches into South Dakota and Nebraska, with a small branch just into Minnesota, according to a map of the proposed pipeline. There would also be branch lines to other parts of Iowa.
According to a map of the proposed project, the pipeline is planned to enter Iowa near the tri-state marker northwest of Larchwood, travel southeast through Lyon County, and cross into O’Brien County near the four-county point, northwest of Sheldon. It then appears to travel east-southeast toward Hartley, where a roughly perpendicular branch joins the main line from both directions from points in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. The mainline is forecast to leave O’Brien County near Highway 18 and the Clay County line. The other lines are planned to enter the county near Moneta, and near the four-county point of O’Brien, Cherokee, Plymouth, and Sioux counties.
Under Iowa Code, the pipeline company is required to hold informational meetings in each county in which real property or property rights would be affected. In our area, the meetings will be
· Lyon County: November 29, noon – Forster Community Center, 404 First Ave., Rock Rapids
· O’Brien County: December 1, noon – Crossroads Pavilion Event Center (Great Hall), 301 34th Ave., Sheldon
· Osceola County: December 1, 6 p.m. – 9th Street Center, 418 Ninth St., Sibley
Other meetings in the wider area include
· Plymouth County: November 29, 6 p.m. – Le Mars Convention Center (lower level), 275 12th St. S.E., Le Mars
· Cherokee County: November 30, noon – Aurelia Community Center, 235 Main St., Aurelia
· Woodbury County: November 30, 6 p.m. – Sioux City Convention Center (Rooms A & B), 801 Fourth St., Sioux City
· Dickinson County: December 2, noon – Dickinson County Community Center, 1602 15th St., Spirit Lake
· Clay County: December 13, noon – Clay County Regional Events Center, 800 W. 18th St., Spencer
· Buena Vista County: December 13, 6 p.m. – Alta Community Center, 28 N. Lake St., Alta
There are other meetings scheduled further away too, plus there is a virtual meeting scheduled as well, on January 19, 2022. For the full list of meetings and registration information for the virtual meeting, you can visit the Iowa Utilities Board’s hearing and meeting calendar.
The company says that by Iowa law, it is not allowed to talk to property owners about the route or easement compensation until after the public informational meetings.
