"If we can't smell it or see it, we wouldn't know we need to go," says a longtime North Dakota resident, Sadie Bro.
In a day-long hearing in Bismarck at the North Dakota Heritage Center auditorium that is still going on, representatives from business and landowners have met and are meeting to discuss the contentious issue of building a 2,000 miles-long underground pipeline to transport carbon dioxide (CO2) for permanentbstorage just a few miles northeast of Bismarck. Summit Carbon Solutions of Iowa say their pipeline project will help ethanol plants and capture greenhouse gas emissions from 32 plants in five states as it ferries the colorless liquid gas to western North Dakota for underground storage. There is only one ethanol plant in North Dakota. A primary issue is that of eminent domain.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission has set four hearings, the first of which was today, to gather public input on a proposed $4.5 billion plan by
Summit Carbon Solutions.
However, many land and homeowners along the route say the proposed plan is too risky. Many cited that unlike oil and gas pipelines, CO2 has no smell and therefore, no one would know if they were at risk and should evacuate. Representatives of Summit tried to allay such fears, with one individual saying he was "comfortable" with the proposal, which inspired the counterpoint argument that representatives of the area were less comfortable. One man at the end of the evening, recommended if it had to be built, putting it 10 feet under the ground.
One man railed against
climate change as a "hoax", essentially questioning the need to capture carbon dioxide that is emitted from these ethanol plants. His vitriol was extended to Al Gore and other climate change proponents.
Significantly, individuals such as Karl Rakow and Bro cited risk to children. There are seven schools in the county where the pipeline is proposed to travel near. Bro, a veterinarian, owns a signficant amount of land with her physician husband and cited that in a post-Covid world, a risk of a serious CO2 breach means further risks to the community as they suffer healthcare staff shortages. Rakow cited risk of asphixiation from the deadly gas, a fear echoed throughout the broadcast today.
Other concerns were that the regulatory agency, The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which regulates the movement of shipments of hazardous materials by all modes of transportation, had not done due diligence in reviewing risks. They urged if not a denial of the pipeline grant, a delay so PHMSA could conduct a more thorough review.
Gaylen Deving likened the conflation of very different pipeline risk levels to an issue close to home: "On my ranch there are two types of cats - one is domestic and one is a mountain lion. And I would respectfully ask we [understand the same differences] with regard to pipelines."
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A map of the proposed pipeline can be seen
here.
Meeting schedule:
8:30 a.m. March 14 at the North Dakota Heritage Center auditorium in Bismarck for Oliver, Morton and Burleigh counties.
9 a.m. March 28 at the North Sargent School Activity Center in Gwinner for Dickey and Sargent counties.
9 a.m. April 11 at the Harry Stern and Ella Stern Cultural Center at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton for Cass and Richland counties.
9 a.m. May 9 at the Emmons County Courthouse in Linton for Emmons, Logan and McIntosh counties.
Pictures: Top: By Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota - Sacred Stone Camp, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54799791; Bottom: By Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA - Protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84747097.
Next week*: Part two, some background on the pipeline and more anecdotes. Names will be added.
* An earlier version of this blog said there would be a Part Two Friday, March 17. Additional reporting is required and a publication date cannot yet be ascertained.
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