In response to Dan Brawner’s editorial in December 2021, in which he describes a list of certainties, one of which is the fact that Republicans and Democrats will never agree on anything.
Well Dan, since the beginning of December I have witnessed “Trumpers,” “Bernie Supporters” and everyone in the political in-between join together in a very pressing issue for all Iowans. The residents of Mount Vernon, Lisbon as well as Linn, Cedar and Jones counties have suddenly been threatened by an ill-conceived and financially motivated hazardous pipeline project named the “Navigator Heartland Greenway” CO2 Carbon Capture Pressurized Pipeline.
I have witnessed these different political factions speak out at public meetings and agree in a unified voice of opposition to the Navigator project and its pre-planned use of eminent domain to acquire a right of way easement from reluctant property owners. These landowners and in many cases their ancestors have made considerable personal investments in preserving these lands. The landowners now rightly feel the efforts of their good land stewardship threatened by the callous, nearsighted and reckless pipeline project.
I have read comments and objections made to the Iowa Utilities Board’s (“IUB”) Docket: Petition for Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Permit Docket Number: HLP-2021-0003. These submissions to the open docket encourage the IUB to reject the permit to build a hazardous pipeline and to deny the use of eminent domain. Many of these objections and comments are based on referenced articles, scientific studies, and news reports that describe how Navigator has misrepresented the truth and safety issues of this project and minimized its long-term effects on the environment. The comments and objections describe health, safety, emergency rescue issues and an actual report of a pipeline rupture and its effects. Potential safety issues describe how a pressurized CO2 pipeline is susceptible to rupture damage from corrosion or when a shift or change in soil pressures occurs due to flooding. Such was the issue in Satartia, Miss. (2020), when a pressurized CO2 pipeline exploded after a heavy rain producing a wide-ranging cloud that resulted in injuries, hospitalized 49 and caused evacuation of more than 300 nearby residents. Carbon dioxide is an asphyxiant that displaces ambient oxygen from the area making a dangerous, if not deadly atmospheric condition for humans and all life.
More objections and comments are filed concerning the “Public Good” factor and its use as an excuse for the declaration of eminent domain. Navigator dictates the terms of their perpetual easement with minimal future responsibility while the property owners are left with a permanent hazardous pipeline, devalued property values and long-term future of financial liabilities. After a one-time easement payout, very few Iowans will see any financial benefits. Damages noted during the construction phase are soil compaction, top soil loss, soil degradation from mixing soils and unresolved field tile disruptions. The inconveniences and damages will not only impact landowners and their neighbors but will tax state, county and local infrastructures and resources for what is purported to be a vague logic of “Public Good.”
So, Dan there are Republicans and Democrats agreeing in a united voice of opposition to the pipeline’s misguided plan of digging in hundreds of miles of hazardous pipelines across Iowa and through the lives and lands of thousands of Iowans. In addition to the landowners there are many neighbors and concerned citizens of nearby communities with diverse political views who have joined in solidarity with this landowner coalition to oppose this project. They too are researching carbon capture pipelines, attending and speaking out at public meetings, filing objections and comments to the Iowa Utility Board, voicing their concerns to their elected public officials and writing editorials to their local newspapers to raise awareness of this pipeline project’s tragic legacy. This effort supersedes political ideology or political division. This is about the Iowa community working together in a unified voice, preserving their past, caring for their present and fighting for their future.