Kurt Swenson and his wife live in Oliver County where a pipeline developer seeks to inject carbon dioxide emissions below their land.
The farm has been in his wife’s family for 111 years. While he says he does not oppose the project and that such an effort “can be a great thing for North Dakota,” he told landowners gathered in Bismarck on Wednesday that aspects of it give him pause.
“We love listening to the pheasants crow and the coyotes howl and the morning doves coo, sipping coffee out on the porch in the mornings and, especially in the summer evenings, sitting out there watching the endless stars,” he said. “As you can imagine, we’d like to preserve the value that we get out of the enjoyment of our land.”
He said the initial lease agreement proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions would have given him little say on where equipment such as compressors or lights go, and he seeks to prevent a scenario in which they end up not far from his bedroom window.
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“I want some right as a landowner to where those things go on our property,” he said.
He is working with an attorney and other landowners in the area to negotiate different terms for a lease regarding Summit’s Midwest Carbon Express pipeline. The line would pick up carbon dioxide from more than 30 ethanol plants in the Midwest, crossing 2,000 miles through five states to Oliver and Mercer counties northwest of Bismarck, where the emissions would be injected into the cavities of rocks underground for permanent storage. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change if released into the atmosphere.
The project was a hot topic Wednesday at a conference on rock cavities, more formally called “pore space.” The Northwest Landowners Association organized the event, where numerous speakers addressed the pipeline and attendees chatted about it in the hallways between presentations.
One talk came from Summit.
"We are building this project so we can develop that pore space and hopefully provide landowners who are interested in this project the opportunity to monetize that pore space," said Jeff Skaare, the company's director of land, legal and regulatory affairs.
Swenson geared his comments to landowners in a similar situation as his family, suggesting they work with their neighbors, thoroughly research the project and hire a knowledgeable attorney if approached about signing a lease.
Numerous carbon capture and storage projects are underway in North Dakota, and others are eyeing the state. North Dakota officials have embraced the technology, and researchers have spent years studying the rocks that make up the Williston Basin for their storage potential.
“We’re setting a precedent for a potentially large industry in the state of North Dakota,” Swenson said. “Taking time now to have thoughtful discussions, debate and dialogue and effort put into the process of this development is only going to lead to a better outcome for all involved.”
Such discussions are also happening in other parts of North Dakota far from where the project will inject carbon emissions. Landowners in the route of the pipeline have concerns about its safety and the potential for eminent domain, which would involve seizing the use of land for the project if property owners can't reach an agreement with the company. Landowners would still be compensated.
More than 130 people in Richland County submitted a petition to their county commissioners Tuesday urging them to pass a resolution opposing the use of eminent domain for the pipeline in the far southeastern corner of the state.
The commission voted Tuesday to move forward with such a resolution, and landowners in Emmons and Dickey counties are considering presenting their leaders with a similar proposal, said Todd McMichael, a Richland County landowner active in the efforts. The pipeline would cross through more than 6,000 feet of his property.
The resolution “buys us time and will get some attention,” he told reporters at Wednesday’s conference.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission permits pipelines. McMichael said it's possible Richland County’s opposition to eminent domain could factor into the state regulators’ considerations.
The PSC does not directly authorize eminent domain; that matter is often handled in court.
McMichael added that he hopes the resolution gets the attention of Gov. Doug Burgum, who has touted the project in recent speeches. The governor announced a goal last year to make the state carbon-neutral by 2030, offsetting emissions in large part by capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground through projects such as Summit’s.
"Based on conversations with Summit Carbon Solutions, their goal is to reach right-of-way agreements with individual landowners without using eminent domain, and the governor supports that direction," Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki told the Tribune.
A Summit representative in an interview last year said eminent domain was a possibility, but the company is trying to reach agreements with landowners voluntarily first. Eminent domain is among a number of issues landowners up and down the pipeline route in the Midwest have raised in news reports and in meetings with the company in recent months.
Landowners peppered Skaare with a variety of questions at Wednesday’s event. He said the company’s commitment is to “work with landowners, community leaders, stakeholders and more with respect, honesty and transparency.”
The company is talking with landowners to secure leases for the project, and it has begun the permitting process in several states. The line is slated to pass through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. Skaare said he anticipates Summit will submit an application to the PSC in North Dakota within several months.
The line is meant to pass under the Missouri River north of Bismarck before reaching several injection wells farther west. Summit is evaluating three potential locations for the line’s river crossing, he said. The company has engaged with landowners there and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is involved in the permitting process at the federal level.
The Corps has been embroiled in a dispute for six years over the Dakota Access Pipeline, which crosses under the river south of Bismarck, just upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
The Summit pipeline is of an even larger scope in terms of its size and price. It is expected to cost $4.5 billion.
Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.
Carbon dioxide pipeline proposed for North Dakota a hot topic among landowners - Bismarck Tribune
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