A few weeks ago, a coalition of Mitchell County landowners visited a Mitchell County Board of Supervisors meeting, and one of their primary concerns was the safety of the pipeline. In 2020, in Satartia, Miss., a pipeline carrying compressed carbon dioxide ruptured, and opponents of the Iowa pipeline point to that incident as a warning sign.
Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank met with members of the media on March 25 to address concerns raised by landowners impacted by the CO2 pipeline proposed to run through Mitchell County.
Blank believes comparing the two pipelines is like comparing apples to oranges. He also described those opposing the pipeline as a loud minority.
“I do understand the sentiment,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t sympathize with it. But there’s 5,200 miles of CO2 pipelines in the U.S. today. All operate extremely safe. They’ve been operating for decades. You don’t hear a lot about them because they’re not in our region. Part of the reason we hear quite a bit about this particular system and this particular pipeline is it’s big (in miles).”
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According to Blank, the pipeline traverses five states while serving the ethanol industry. The most likely consequence of the pipeline would be a scenario where someone hits it with a backhoe or a similar piece of equipment. Blank described that as a minor incident with little damage and no risk.
“We would know that immediately based on pressure indications we’ll have inside the pipe,” Blank said. “That’s one nice thing about a brand new pipeline system is the fact that we will monitor that system 24/7, seven days a week from a control center.”
Blank specifically described it as an air-traffic or railroad control center that allows recognition of a drop in pressure.
“It’s an extremely responsive and quick system in the event there’s a problem,” Blank said. “CO2 is a product just like we use each and every day – in a can of Coke or anything else. But it is under pressure, so to be fair, that’s the piece we have to be very careful about and cautious about.
“I think it will be the safest pipeline system in the U.S., really because there hasn’t been a project like this in some time. There’s risk with anything… but ultimately the risks are extremely, extremely small when it comes to the system and what we’re building.”
Blank described the Satartia rupture as a geological issue, which caused a guillotine break. The entire pipeline was sliced.
“The whole side of a hill moved to get that to accomplish,” Blank said. “The other thing that was different about that particular pipe, we are pure CO2. That particular pipeline also had hydrogen sulfide in that pipe as well. That made that a bit more of a hazardous material than what will actually be moving through our particular system.”
Blank added that Satartia was the only kind of CO2 pipeline event to endanger public safety in decades.
Pipelines are a fact of everyday life, according to Blank.
“Pipelines in general, which run under our feet each and every day, they’re hauling commodities (in) the most safe fashion they can be hauled,” Blank said. “Much safer than rail and truck transportation. But yet, to be fair, there has been that one incidence.”
Public opinion
Blank said he understands he is facing pushback from many landowners. There are even members on the Mitchell County Board of Supervisors who vocally oppose the proposed pipeline. When asked at what point does public opinion sway the decisions of Summit Carbon Solutions, Blank said he believes Summit is already listening and acting upon feedback – it already has helped Blank navigate the installation plans of the pipeline.
“We’ve made route changes to this particular pipeline – over 5,800 changes to the routing of the pipe,” Blank said. “And that’s been done to try to accommodate the landowner that actually is in favor of the system and doesn’t want us to run diagonally through their field and take out a bunch of tile. So we’ve been making those types of changes."
According to Blank, Summit has over 75% of the right-of-way purchased on the current pipeline system, which has been done voluntarily.
“There’s a lot of individuals that want to have this particular infrastructure project, you just don’t hear from them often, because they’ve signed a right-of-way with us, an easement with us," Blank said. "They’ve been compensated for it. They’re very happy about it. They’re not necessarily the ones that are going to be speaking outwardly about the project.”
Blank also believes the pipeline project is important to agriculture in Iowa.
“Many folks in the U.S. farm (scene) see that,” Blank said. “We just don’t hear from them that often in the same fashion we might hear from the opposition.
“We’re doing everything we can to be transparent. Educate, have genuine conversations about what we’re trying to accomplish at all levels, whether it be local, state or federal government.”
Drought
Another concern voiced by those opposing the pipeline is that Summit would use more water when there is already a severe drought taking place in the region.
“To be fair, there is an increased usage of water when you add our small capture facility that goes alongside the ethanol plant,” Blank said. “But it’s a very small amount. The amount of additional water that will be used has been highly exaggerated in the press. It’s less than 10% of additional water. I understand the drought situation; it’s a hard situation for sure.”
Blank contends the amount of additional water used would be miniscule in the overall project, and that according to research by the state, industrial use of water in Iowa is around 5%.
Economic benefit
Opponents of the pipeline believe that Summit is overestimating or intentionally misleading the public about the overall economic benefit to communities.
Blank said Summit commissioned Ernst & Young to do economic studies county by county, and that Summit has done its own internal studies. For Mitchell County alone, Summit estimates in influx of $1.381 million annually in tax revenue.
That is under operation, not construction, which Blank said brings another economic benefit.
Agriculture
“I don’t come out of oil and gas or midstream. I come out of agriculture. That’s my background. The reason the project’s important, as I’ve been involved with the project, is because agriculture goes through step changes, and we’ve seen good ones and bad ones," Blank said.
“As I think about the U.S. corn farmer, specifically growing up in Iowa, and the Iowa corn farmer, I think very much about how we continue to grow markets for the largest demand, the consumptive demand for that corn crop, which is the ethanol industry. By decarbonizing and lowering the carbon score on ethanol, it will open that product up to many markets today that are willing to pay a nice premium for a low-carbon product.”
Blank said he does not argue climate change.
“But what I do defend is the fact that U.S. agriculture has always gone out to meet markets,” Blank said. “It’s part of the reason we export grain, it’s part of the reason we have certain qualities of corn and soybeans. It’s for certain markets we’re trying to go hit.
“(The pipeline) is really infrastructure just like the Class I carrier railroads that gives us the ability to go get marketplaces that we wouldn’t get otherwise. Those marketplaces are low carbon.”
Blank gave the example that California is willing to pay a low-carbon price for ethanol.
“If they’re willing to pay us for our products at a valuation that can bring more value to the Iowa acre on their balance sheets, then we should go do that just like we have in the past,” Blank said. “That’s really what this project is all about.”
Therefore, according to Blank, Summit is focused on the ethanol industry. There are now 57 ethanol biorefineries on the pipeline project.
“Those are all to help the U.S. farmer have a corn market so they can continue to get good value for their corn crop,” Blank said.
Jason W. Selby is the community editor for the Mitchell Country Press News. He can be reached at 515-971-6217, or by email at jason.selby@globegazette.com.