BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota utility regulators gave the go-ahead Friday to proposed carbon dioxide pipeline This will cross five Midwestern states; A significant victory for the company, which has faced a tumultuous landowner’s objections and there are various obstacles and setbacks in their plans.

The state Public Service Commission unanimously approved a siting permit for Summit Carbon Solutions’ modified, 333-mile route in North Dakota. Company’s proposed $8 billion, 2,500-mile pipeline the system will carry Tons of planet-warming CO2 emissions from 57 ethanol plants in five states to be stored underground in North Dakota.

Construction has not begun anywhere along Summit’s proposed route. Iowa has approved the project, but there are other hurdles in North Dakota as well as South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska.

The approval is a win for the company, after North Dakota first denied the permit in 2023 and was soon denied it in South Dakota. Another company, Navigator CO2 Ventures, canceled His project took place around the same time “due to the unpredictable nature of regulatory and government processes, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa.”

fans are cheering carbon capture Projects as a way to combat climate change with lucrative federal tax credits for such efforts. Ethanol industry sees Summit’s project opening sustainable aviation fuel A boost for ethanol and No. 1 corn producer Iowa.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioners, from left, Sherri Haugen-Hoffart, Randy Christmann, center, and Administrative Law Judge Tim Dawson, begin a meeting Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the State Capitol in Bismarck, ND, where they vote to approve the bill they use. Route permit for Zirve Carbon Solutions pipeline. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jack Dura

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, now President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Interior Minister a position that is broad impact on natural resources, he screamed The province’s underground CO2 storage potential is seen as a “geological bonus.”

Peak rivals Including many landowners in the Midwest, a potential pipe rupture It releases dangerous, heavy CO2 gas to flow on land, endangers people’s health and lives. They also fear that their land will be taken over through concession area.

North Dakota Public Service Commission Chairman Randy Christmann urged Summit not to use the domain name “at least no more than absolutely necessary.” Eminent said the domain name was not under the panel’s jurisdiction or part of the siting process.

Summit CEO Lee Blank told reporters the company was pleased with the panel’s decision. He said Summit has been working with landowners on a voluntary basis and will continue to do so.

“Our goal, again, is to get as many passes as possible voluntarily, and at the end of the day we hope to do 100% of that,” Blank said.

Summit said Friday that it has obtained easements for more than 82% of its North Dakota route.

Republican state Senator Jeff Magrum, the opponent of the district where the pipeline will pass, said he would prefer to see investments in roads, bridges and dams instead of Green New Deal projects that do not benefit our state and our country. ” He expects the panel’s decision to be appealed.

carbon capture skeptics He says the technology has not been tested on a large scale, allowing the fossil fuel industry to continue largely unchanged.

In August, the Iowa Public Utilities Commission granted Summit a hazardous liquid pipeline permit after approving the company’s application. In June. The panel also granted Summit franchise rights over multiple parcels of land.

But the company can’t begin construction in Iowa until it receives route approvals from Dakota and approval for underground storage in North Dakota, among other requirements. The Iowa panel’s decision sparked lawsuits in opposition.

Christmann said the permit has no restrictions based on what other states have done.

north dakota panel rejected Obtain a residence permit in August 2023. Regulators said Many issues were not adequately addressed at the summit, including geological instability, wildlife areas, cultural resource impacts and some landowner concerns.

Shortly after, the panel agreed rethink, we start with over a year of meetings and documentation Applications.

Zirve submitted three storage facility permits applications He appealed to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, but no decision was made.

in 2022 Minnkota Energy Cooperative and Summit have agreed to collaborate on the development of CO2 storage in central North Dakota; This agreement also allows Summit to use Minnkota’s previously permitted 100 million tons of underground storage.

South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in September 2023 rejected Application for permission after the commissioning of the summit the staff said the route would violate county regulations regarding setback distances. Summit said it plans to reapply for the permit this month.

One referendum Earlier this month, South Dakota voters rejected a series of edits Opponents have said they would reject local control over such projects and consolidate authority with state regulators. Supporters promoted it as a “landowners’ bill of rights.”

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide Dec. 12 whether to approve the 30-mile pipeline that would connect an ethanol plant near Fergus Falls to Summit’s network in North Dakota. An administrative law judge recommended The commissioners found that environmental review It met the legal requirements for the Minnesota section and was granted a route permit to the Summit.

Critics had told the judge concerns about impacts on farms and water supplies and suggested there were better ways to reduce CO2 emissions. They also argued that the environmental review should be expanded to look at impacts of the larger proposed Midwest Carbon Express pipeline network to which Summit would connect.

In Nebraska, where there is no state regulatory process for CO2 pipelines, Summit is working with individual counties to advance its project. At least one county denied the permit.

___

AP reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this story.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.