BISMARCK, N.D. — Summit Carbon Solutions will get a second chance to make its case for a carbon capture pipeline through North Dakota.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission on Friday, Sept. 15, granted a request from Summit Carbon Solutions to reconsider their route permit application. The commission on Aug. 4 denied Summit’s application . Summit tried to remedy what the PSC pointed out as deficiencies, including a new route around Bismarck.
Summit requested a one-day hearing for reconsideration . At a previous work session of the PSC, commission Chairman Randy Christmann said the PSC is not obligated to grant a timeline requested by Summit and will instead set its own schedule.
“The company can now, I guess, prepare the evidence that they sought to provide to us to persuade the commission that the applicant’s (Summit) application meets the legal standard,” Christmann said. “And I will tell you that based on the deficiencies laid out in the previous denial, I'd say that evidence will need to be substantial.”
Summit has proposed a new route farther north of Bismarck.
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"We've listened to and learned from the concerns raised by the North Dakota Public Service Commission,” Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank said in news release. "Subsequently, we rerouted around Bismarck, made adjustments to drill or bypass game management and geo-hazard areas, and collaborated with the State Historic Preservation Office to record the findings of cultural surveys.”
North Dakota was the first state to bring a Summit pipeline route to a vote, denying that application on Aug. 4.
South Dakota on Sept. 11 also denied an application from Summit.
After the 2-1 vote in favor of the re-hearing, Christmann said the commission will have to make a decision on whether county ordinances preempt the authority of the commission. Emmons and Burleigh are counties along the route that have passed ordinances that would limit where the pipeline could go.
“I argued five weeks ago that the law is crystal clear that on hydrocarbon pipeline projects, the county ordinances are preempted,” Christmann said.
Preemption was a key factor in the decision by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to deny Summit a permit.
The 2,000 mile pipeline would capture greenhouse gas emissions from ethanol plants in five states to be stored underground west of Bismarck. Summit says the project will benefit the ethanol plants and corn growers, but some landowners have been resistant to provide a voluntary easement for the project.
Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart voted against the rehearing, saying Summit could have addressed many of the issues as they were raised during public hearing on the pipeline.
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“They had ample time, six months when there was a question by a landowner or anyone, for them to submit rebuttal information,” Haugen-Hoffert said.
Tim Dawson, a substitute commissioner for Julie Fedorchak, who recused herself because of a conflict of interest, sided with Christmann.
“I think though, if we use the law that says that there's just a speedy and inexpensive means of determining things, I think that gives more weight to the side of approving the reconsideration,” Dawson said.
Christmann said a rehearing may still result in a denial of the controversial hazardous liquid pipeline. If Summit's petition had been denied, it would have had to start from scratch on a new route application. It also needs a permit for the underground storage sites.
“For people who are concerned, I do want to point out, reconsideration does not grant either the corridor certificate or the route permit. It only allows additional evidence for the company to try to persuade us that they are addressing the deficiencies,” Christmann said.
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