More than fifty local residents were in attendance Saturday, Dec. 4, at Southeast Linn Community Center to discuss the Navigator CO2 pipeline project proposed around the communities of Mount Vernon and Lisbon with fellow neighbors.
Local landowner Jessica Wiskus presented a 20-minute overview of the project to those in attendance before opening for questions and discussion.
Wiskus noted she, like the majority of landowners at the meeting, had received a packet from Navigator about a proposed carbon sequestration pipeline to possibly go through her land in weeks previous, and receiving that packet spurred her to look into the companies behind the project.
The pipeline will take carbon dioxide produced at bioethanol plants across the state of Iowa and push that liquid gas over to Illinois, where the liquid carbon dioxide will be stored underground.
“My concern is that this project does not fit for the parameters of what’s the greatest good for this state of Iowa, no matter how much Navigator sells this as a green initiative,” Wiskus said.
There are other uses for the liquid carbon dioxide, which includes pumping that underground and then letting it come to the surface, and in doing so, generate oil.
More than 90 percent of the carbon dioxide captured by companies goes into the production of oil.
Another concern was what happens after Navigator constructs this pipeline if they are to sell it to another company. That would make that pipeline something that would benefit private businesses twice over, but not possibly benefit Iowans who sold easements on their lands for the pipeline to run through.
In order to install pipelines underground, Navigator will need to remove several inches of topsoil, some of the most fertile farming ground in Iowa, and impact farms’ ability to plant on that area for several years.
The Dakota Access Pipeline in western Iowa showed what that impact could have on farming, as the pipeline buried underground had seen significant compaction of land and damage to drainage tiles as part of that project’s construction.
“It’s not just about an individual’s land, it’s about the impact to all of that farm land,” Wiskus said. “We pride ourselves on being one of the states who helps feed the entire world. This has the opportunity to impact the fertile land that could benefit future generations of farmers.”
The other concern is if a carbon dioxide pipeline were to rupture, the impact that would have on farmlands and neighboring communities. The proposed pipeline would be located roughly a mile south of Mount Vernon and Lisbon, and in the case of the dense gases of carbon dioxide escaping from a pipe, there’s a chance that gas could reach the communities of Lisbon and Mount Vernon, depending on how long the rupture goes undetected or isn’t shut off.
The pipe rupture in Sartartia, Miss., is one of the cautionary tales Wiskus noted, that in the span of half an hour, hundreds of people were negatively impacted by a similar pipe leak.
“Because the gas is dense and mostly odorless, it overwhelmed people trying to escape in vehicles by shutting off their vehicle engines, and with 15 minutes of exposure to the gas, people could die,” Wiskus said. “That pipeline was built in 2007 and ruptured in 2020.”
Navigator can’t begin contacting landowners until after the informational meetings are held on these projects in the county. Surveyors and land agents can start requesting to come on properties to get photos and try to reach agreements with landowners. Landowners can not keep surveyors off their land.
“The project can’t move directly to eminent domain,” Wiskus said. “If many of us stand shoulder to shoulder and fight this, there’s a chance this pipeline doesn’t move forward.”
Other actions that landowners could consider include signing a petition with The Sierra Club and contacting the Iowa Utilities Board opposing the project ahead of the formal hearing on the project slated for 2021.
Mount Vernon resident Keith Huebner stated he was for the pipeline project moving forward, noting that the pipelines connecting to biodiesel and ethanol plants help the project remain to be seen as a benefit to the renewable fuel commodities.
While Wiskus is a supporter of ethanol, her concerns with the pipeline were primarily with the safety of the lines, noting the proximity to the towns of Mount Vernon and Lisbon of both north and south pipeline and a pipeline running west to east to the south of both communities.
Carmen McShane noted if the project moves forward, she is not a fan of eminent domain as the way that Navigator should get the land they need for their pipeline. If the company goes that route, there’s a chance the pipeline will generate more money for landowners.
Others noted the impact repairs to highways coming through on their land have impacted the yields and farming as similar to the damage that landowners will encounter with a new pipeline, especially compaction of soil from construction equipment.
Kent Neal said a pipeline hauling natural gas ruptured on his farm a few years ago and took more than half an hour to have shut off and fixed. He was concerned with how much liquid carbon dioxide escaping from one of these pipelines would impact the towns of Mount Vernon and Lisbon quickly if the pipeline were to burst.
The meeting was also a chance for landowners to network with other landowners in opposition to the project.
Another avenue for landowners impacted by the project is to contact their legislators at the federal and state level of concerns for the project.
Contacting the Iowa Utilities Board between now and early February to voice issues with the plan would help drastically as well.
The first informational meetings on the project from Navigator were Monday, Dec. 6, and Tuesday, Dec. 7, with the Dec. 7 meeting in Tipton. The pipeline will also have to be approved by the Iowa Utilities Board in February to advance.
Pipeline discussion draws crowd to SELCC
December 9, 2021
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.