Landowners unhappy with carbon capture pipeline

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Many in the energy industry sing the praises of carbon capture technology, but not everybody is thrilled by the idea.

Summit Carbon Solutions is planning a massive project spanning five states, that will carry millions of tons of carbon dioxide into North Dakota every year, where it will be permanently stored underground.

There’s big potential for the energy industry. But some landowners in the way of the pipeline are skeptical.

Some landowners have a message for where the pipeline can go.

”I really don’t care where they go; I just don’t want it on my property,” said Dennis Wolff, landowner and farmer in McPherson County, South Dakota.

Summit Carbon Solutions has filed a lawsuit against a number of landowners, who denied the company access to their land.

”While the overwhelming majority of the survey work conducted up to this point has involved the landowner voluntarily offering the company permission to access their land, there have been a limited number of instances where South Dakota law has been invoked to allow this critical work to continue,” said representatives from Summit Carbon Solutions.

In addition to skepticism about the pipeline, Wolff’s biggest issue is the way he’s been approached by the company.

”The first thing the guy told me last January, when I said I’m probably not going to sign, he threatened me with eminent domain. That is the first words out of their mouth. It’s the bullying tactics they’re using, they’re picking on the older people, people who aren’t very informed on it. It’s not being done in a right way,” said Wolff.

And even Senator John Hoeven, whose work on carbon capture in North Dakota began 14 years ago when he was governor, has expressed concern about Summit’s practices.

”Private property rights must be respected and participation in the Summit Carbon Solutions project should be voluntary, and Senator Hoeven is concerned about the use of litigation to compel access to private property,” said Hoeven’s office in a statement.

Carbon capture continues to grow in North Dakota. Just last week, a carbon capture and storage facility in Richardton became fully operational.

In March, Continental Resources, which is an oil and gas company out of Oklahoma City, invested $250 million into the project. Summit Carbon Solutions’ website says the project will generate thousands of jobs during construction and hundreds of full-time jobs once operational.

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