An Iowa judge has ordered state regulators to take another look at the permit requirements for an interstate carbon dioxide pipeline after a South Dakota law disrupted the developer’s plans.
The Iowa district court in Polk County put a lawsuit challenging the Iowa Utilities Commission’s hazardous liquids pipeline permit on hold this week so regulators can review the terms of their order approving Summit Carbon Solutions’ 688-mile pipeline.
Once completed, the project would carry liquefied CO2 from Iowa ethanol plants to permanent underground storage in North Dakota.
The project faced a new obstacle in March, when South Dakota enacted a law banning the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. That proved to be a problem under the permit conditions from the Iowa Utilities Commission, which required Summit to obtain all of its state permits in order to maintain authorization to build and operate the pipeline.
