Summit Carbon Solutions shows counties where it has secured land for pipeline

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Summit Carbon Solutions, which is one of the three different companies trying to create a carbon capture pipeline in Iowa, released data on their ability to gain access to land by county in an email to lawmakers Wednesday morning.

The company said enough landowners have voluntarily signed easement agreements, which will allow it to build two-thirds of the proposed route in Iowa earlier this month. The company said the pipeline will lower the amount of carbon used to create ethanol by capturing it in the air and then storing it underground. This would allow ethanol producers to sell their products in states with low carbon fuel standards.

The company has filed an application to ask for eminent domain, which allows the government to take away private property with payment as compensation. A variety of people, including farmers, have criticized the plans to build carbon capture pipelines from a variety of companies across the United States.

The pipeline, according to the company, would stretch out across five states: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. Summit Carbon Solutions said it has signed agreements for more than 60% of the proposed project earlier this week.

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is a senior policy advisor for Summit Carbon Solutions. Jess Vilsack, who is the son of United States Secretary of Agriculture and Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsac, is the company’s general counsel.