BROOKINGS – With three mandato­ry public hearings – in November in Canton, Flandreau and Sioux Falls – now over, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission will between now and Sept. 27 take action on a: “Permit to Construct a Carbon Dioxide Transmission Pipeline in the counties of Brookings, Moody, Minnehaha, Lincoln and Turner. … The Project consists of 111.9 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline” to be buried underground in the above five counties.

The South Dakota miles of pipe­line are a part of the overall Navigator Heartland Greenway Project: “approx­imately 1,300 miles of pipelines for the transportation of CO2 from from more than 21 ethanol and fertilizer plants, including three ethanol plants in South Dakota, that will transport captured carbon dioxide for permanent and secure sequestration in Illinois and/or to off-take facilities for commercial / industrial use.” Navigator estimates the construction of the South Dakota miles of the project will cost $142 million.

In making its decision, the PUC will use its own “Information Guide to Siting Pipelines”: a two-page guide (available online), and take one of three actions: Grant the permit; deny the permit; or grant the permit with terms, conditions or modifications its deems appropriate and legally within its jurisdiction.

Of course, basic to the project is the land, private and public, under which the pipeline would be buried. The PUC explains that it does not involve itself in “the easement acquisition that occurs between applicants and landowners. Likewise the PUC does not have a role in the eminent domain process, which is handled in the circuit court system.”

For Navigator’s viewpoint on its application, in a two-page overview, log on to www.heartlandgreenway.com. It addresses pipeline safety, explains “car­bon capture,” and lays out its “expect­ed timeline” for field surveying (now ongoing), anticipated receipt of federal and state permits by the end of 2023, construction during 2024 and “initial system commissioning by the second quarter of 2025.”

Looking out for Brookings County

As the project chugs along, it’s being especially watched by landowners who would be affected and by the com­missions of the five counties the pipe­line would run through. Point man for the Brookings County Commission is County Development Director and Emergency Manager Robert Hill. He noted that about 6 miles of the pipeline would go through Brookings County and on into Moody County.

Hill put into simple terms the commission’s piece of the action as the pipeline proposal plays out: “There is a proposal at the Public Utilities Commission to allow a CO2 capture pipeline from Aurora south into Moody County. The (Brookings) County Commission is monitoring it. We get all the correspondence; we’ve got a copy of the plan that’s submitted to the Public Utilities Commission here in the office. If people want to, they can come in and take a look.”

Hill further explained that Brookings County is the second entity to become “an interested party”: “They (the Brookings County commissioners) assigned me to be the one to go to the meeting(s), assemble all the paperwork and then get it to them. Everything I get that comes to me, I share it all with them, the state’s attorney and everybody that needs to know about it.”

The Brookings County Commission has yet to set a meeting specifically dedicated to the pipeline issue. Hill said he has personally received no phone calls or other communications about the pipeline.

“We are monitoring it. At this point it’s still a proposal,” he said. “We are signed on as an interested party, so we know what’s going on.”

Hill did note that the PUC website – www.puc.sd.gov. – has a variety of topics tied to the Navigator Heartland Greenway Pipeline System: “They have a docket specifically for pipelines.”

Following log-on to PUC website, take the following steps to reach the docket: Commission Actions – Commission Dockets – Hydrocarbon and Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Dockets – 2022 Hydrocarbon and Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Dockets – HP22-002, filed 9/27/22.

‘Landowners against it big time’

As the project moves forward, affected landowners in Brookings and Moody counties have received a letter from Heartland Greenway, explaining the need for surveys and seeking cooperation in the process. In closing, the letter cites South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL 21-35-31): ”Entry on private property for examination and survey of project requiring siting permit from Public Utilities Commission.”

Meanwhile, as the project moves forward, some landowners in Brookings and Moody County are concerned that an 800-pound gorilla is hanging around and maybe ready to symbolically enter the room: “The landowners are against it big time,” explained Clayton Rentschler, a Moody County landowner who attended all three PUC public hearings. “(Getting the land) through eminent domain is what’s making them so mad. And the fact that it’s not a public utility. A ‘garbage line’ is what I like to call it.

“You read in the papers about it. They call it the ‘new gold rush.,’ because of the 45Q tax breaks that they’re getting on this thing. … They said one time that they wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for that. I could go on and on.” The 45 Q tax breaks can come from carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

Rentschler has a personal interest in the project: “It goes right through my parents’ place, which is in a trust right now. There are half a dozen landowners there, it comes within (2,500) to 3,000 feet. Our neighbor just south of my dad’s place, it’s within 700 feet of his front door.”

With the three public hearings now over, he sees that “what we really need to do is get people to call their legislators, their district representatives and others like that. That’s where we need the voice now, is to get everybody in Pierre aware and onboard. The more we get people speaking out against this pipeline, we need to contact our elected officials. And you don’t have to be a landowner to do that. It’s all our tax dollars when it comes right down to it. Everybody’s in this whether they like it or not.”

Rentschler is a member of South Dakota Easement Team, which bills itself as “a landowner-organized and run group designed to help educate and empower other South Dakota landowners to understand the options available to you to protect your land and future from the abuse of eminent domain. SDET is working closely with a legal team and community organizers to build a statewide network of concerned and affected persons to join together as one powerful group. Stand with us as we say NO to corporate exploitation of South Dakota’s land and residents.”

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.