The Webster County Supervisors received an update on the Summit Carbon Pipeline projects at Tuesday’s regular meeting.

“They’re coming,” said Kristina Paradise with Snyder & Associates.

Paradise along with Kyle Kopp of McClure Engineering were hired by the County to provide county inspection services on the Summit projects. They presented to the board for “the benefit of new supervisors and the auditor.”

According to Paradise, Summit Carbon Solutions filed an application with the Iowa Utilities Commission in 2021. The CO2 pipeline they plan to build will consist of 700 miles of pipeline in Iowa with 29.76 miles in Webster County.

In August, Summit was issued an Iowa permit as long as permits in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska were all secured. Only then, Summit was told, could they begin construction in Iowa. The only outstanding permit is for South Dakota which is due to the IUC by Nov. 24.

Last week, the South Dakota governor signed a bill forbidding the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipeline projects.

According to Paradise, the South Dakota Governor’s ruling only states that the Utilities Commission can not award land through the use of eminent domain. Summit Carbon Solutions can still get permits if they have all voluntary easements.

Paradise and Kopp told supervisors that the Midwest Carbon Express is the mainline portion of the project. The Summit Carbon Transport is the expansion project.

“In 2024 they filed applications for 14 additional permits with the IUC,” said Paradise. “In Webster County they want to construct 6-inch and 8-inch diameter laterals off the mainline to connect to the Poet facility and to Valero.”

Paradise said more than 350 objections and 30 letters of support have been filed in the docket for Webster County. That docket, HLP20240003, remains open at the IUC for residents to weigh in on.

According to both Paradise and Kopp, many items are still needed from Summit Carbon Solutions, including project specifications and procedures, agricultural mitigation plans, alignment sheets, right of way limits, a list of affected persons, landowner agreements, separate agreements with landowners, and top soil depth reports.

Once those items are received and if construction begins, the county inspectors will be looking at drainage districts, crossings, private tiles, land restoration, boring activities, site dewatering, right of way staking, activities relating to clearing, top soil removal, trenching, backfilling, and more.

County inspectors, however, will not have the authority to inspect welding or coatings as both are regulated by the federal government, pressure testing, restoration of non-agricultural land, or road crossings. Road crossings will involve the Iowa Department of Transportation and the county engineer.

“We just don’t want our fields destroyed,” said Chris Hayek, a Fort Dodge resident whose family land will be affected by the pipeline.

“I understand that,” said Paradise. “We aren’t going to let that happen.”

“This is a boondoggle,” added Hayek following the presentation. “This is a hazardous pipeline that can harm a lot of people.”

Paradise and Kopp will continue to provide updates on the Summit projects to the supervisors.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the supervisors approved the County becoming a preferred enrollment partner with Childcare Discovery Center. The partnership is at no cost to the county.

“This was brought to my attention by one of our employees stating that they could get discounted prices if we put the notice up on our board,” said Supervisor Bob Thode. “We brought this to the board to make that happen.”

The board also approved the official canvas of the March 4 special election.