(Spirit Lake)– There was lengthy debate at today’s (Tues.) Dickinson County Board of Supervisors over carbon capture pipelines. It followed a presentation by Brent Nece, a Project Manager with Summit Carbon Solutions who talked about pipeline integrity and how the company plans address that…
“On the integrity side we’re constantly monitoring those welds. I don’t know how the standard practices were back in the day for pipelines, but like I said we’re looking at the geo hazard analysis so you’re looking at potential areas of slope, stress and strain. We’re running that across the board and looking to see where there could be potential problems. Is there a chance for it? I’m never going to say there’s not a chance but what I’m here to tell you is we’re going through all the proper channels to make sure we’re getting feedback about the system to make sure we’re mitigating those geo hazard risks, we’re reviewing all those earth welds through our online inspection tools. We’re able to proactively go out there and make repairs if needed.”
A man who lives along the route of the proposed pipeline in eastern Dickinson county said he’s skeptical…
“I guess if you want me to pose it as a question, do any of you on the board think this pipeline is never going to leak? A weld is never going to split open? Because I’m not convinced of that whatsoever.”
Another resident expressed concern over possible environmental impacts on Big Spirit Lake…
“If you have a little pin hole and it gets into the tile system and goes to our Iowa Great Lakes for water usage, for Big Spirit, how bad is that going to contaminate and our tourism? What is this going to do to our tourism when people find out that there’s a hazardous pipeline within a couple of miles of the Iowa Great Lakes?”
Nece says the carbon capture pipelines are crucial if ethanol plants are to remain viable in the not too distant future, and says that has a direct impact on corn growers who rely heavily on the ethanol market…
“When you look at the bulk of Canada and other states pushing towards that low carbon fuel market, that’s why there’s this big incentive to make sure these ethanol plants are protected and viable for the future. It’s to make sure they have a seat at the table when we start talking about what does green energy look like to you?”
Several of those in attendance praised the supervisors for hiring a legal consultant to assist in putting together possible rules that would require pipelines to maintain residential setbacks.
