Spencer, Iowa — A ruling by a district court judge in Clay County case could have an impact on plans by at least one company planning to build a carbon capture pipeline in the state.
Navigator Heartland Greenway filed suit against landowner Martin Koenig after Koenig denied the company access to his land to do a survey for the Navigator CO2 pipeline.
In his order, Judge John Sandy says the state law authorizing surveys without the consent of landowners violates both the Iowa Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.
A spokesperson for the pipeline company says they plan to appeal. They say judges in nearby states have found similar laws ARE constitutional.
The Heartland Greenway pipeline is planned to come into the state near the Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa Tri-State Marker and head southeast, exiting Lyon County just north of the four-county point north of Sheldon. It is to travel a short way in Osceola County, with a short off-shoot to the POET Biorefining plant near Ashton and then continue into O’Brien County to a point southwest of Hartley near Valero Renewable Fuels, where it will cross another branch of the line coming in from Plymouth and Cherokee counties, before both exit O’Brien county into Clay County to the east.
