Carbon Capture Pipeline Opponents Want Permits Paused until New Safety Regulations Are Done

November 30, 2022

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by Donnelle Eller (Des Moines Register) Opponents of three carbon capture pipelines proposed in Iowa and surrounding states want federal regulators to call for a moratorium on construction, saying current safeguards are inadequate to protect people who live near the projects.

About three dozen environmental, public health and tribal groups on Monday asked the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to call for a delay in action on state carbon capture pipeline permits until the agency establishes new safety guidelines.

There was no immediate response from the agency. It said in May it would seek new rules for carbon dioxide pipelines after a pipeline ruptured in Satartia, Mississippi, in February 2020, sending 45 people to the hospital.

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The agency fined the pipeline owner nearly $4 million for safety violations. Regulators also have called for research into the safety and construction of carbon capture pipelines, which are intended to carry liquefied carbon dioxide emissions to deep wells where they can be sequestered.

"Any CO2 pipeline permits given before those gaps have been filled will be gambling with public and environmental safety," the groups said in the letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. "We know the forthcoming regulatory overhaul will impact the siting and therefore the risk/safety of communities."

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Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf Carbon Solutions' proposed carbon capture pipelines would cross dozens of Iowa counties. The companies want to capture carbon dioxide emissions from Iowa ethanol manufacturers and other industrial agriculture plants and sequester it in sites in Illinois and North Dakota.

Summit, Navigator and Wolf have said the projects are safe and promise that in many cases, their construction specifications would exceed federal requirements.

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The Biden administration has embraced carbon capture pipelines, saying they could help halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This year's Inflation Reduction Act boosted by 70% the tax credits companies can claim for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions.

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There is no requirement that an odorant be added to the carbon dioxide so leaks can be detected and no defined safe distance between pipelines and places used by people, such as schools, homes and businesses. Currently, they note, there is no provision for a plume dispersion model to aid in defining potential impact areas along carbon capture pipeline corridors.

Story and Shelby counties have adopted rules requiring additional space around pipelines, but Summit has filed a suit contending that the local governments are illegally attempting to preempt state and federal oversight.

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The review by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration could take two years, given the research required, said the opponents, who also want the agency to hold public meetings with landowners, emergency responders and others about the projects. READ MORE