Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — New requirements for the company that has a permit to build a carbon pipeline and for the state regulators that granted the permit have cleared initial review in the Iowa House.
One bill would require Summit Carbon Solutions to show it has enough insurance to cover all damages from a pipeline rupture. Cynthia Hansen’s family owns land in Shelby County that’s in the pipeline’s path.
Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says the cost and liability if there’s a rupture would hit property owners as well as local governments who’d have to respond to the disaster.
A spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions says in order to secure its pipeline permit, the company was required to have at least a 100-million-dollar insurance policy and the ability to compensate landowners for damages from construction. The other bill would require members of the Iowa Utilities Commission to attend the commission’s hearings and informational meetings. Holt says House Speaker Pat Grassley attended a public meeting scheduled by the agency, but no one from the commission was there to hear comments from the public.
Governor Kim Reynolds replaced the commission’s chairman and appointed another new member to the panel in April of 2023. Jessica Mazour is the conservation program manager for the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter. She says the new commissioners have been disrespectful toward property owners who object to having the pipeline on their land.
Peg Rasmussen owns land in Montgomery County where Summit Carbon Solutions plans to extend its pipeline during phase two of the project. She says one commission member was at the informational meeting she attended.
Similar bills have been filed in the Iowa Senate, but no subcommittee hearings on either Senate bill have been scheduled.
