(FARGO, ND) — Summit Carbon Solutions has once again been denied a permit to build a carbon pipeline in South Dakota by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.
On April 22nd, the South Dakota PUC denied the company’s permit application for its multi-billion dollar CO2 pipeline to be built in the state. It is the second time that Summit has had their permit denied in the state within the last three years.
Earlier this week, The Des Moines Register reported that the company may have found a way to salvage its planned carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota if it was given a chance to do so. The company filing with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission said if it’s given enough time, it can plan out a route for its $9 million carbon capture pipeline. It would make a plan to eliminate pipeline segments that connect the ethanol plants where there is significant landowner opposition. “By reducing the number of participating plants, eliminating those more problematic line segments, and thereby minimizing the project’s footprint, we can reduce the overall number of opposed landowners,” the filing said.
In March, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed into law legislation banning the use of eminent domain, which would enable the company to force unwilling landowners to sell access to their property for the project. Summit was ordered by the South Dakota PUC to submit a plan on April 22nd with how the company would proceed with its application in the wake of that legislation (House Bill 1052). The company was also asked to prove the project’s viability after the South Dakota Supreme Court had stated the company was not a “common carrier” which would have allowed them to use eminent domain for the project.
South Dakota PUC Commissioner Kristie Fiegen, who made the motion to deny, said that the Summit Carbon project had to many items that were “uncertain” and therefore said “Summit Carbon’s pipeline application is incomplete and is not ready for the permitting process.”
It is unclear what the next steps will be for Summit Carbon Solutions in South Dakota but a new permit filing has been reported to be on the table as an option for the company. Summit is looking to build an approximately 2,500 mile carbon pipeline for the transportation of CO2 from ethanol plants across five states to underground injection wells in North Dakota.