Poll: Most SD voters disapprove of local control limits on carbon pipelines

MITCHELL, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) A new poll shows most South Dakotans don’t approve of legislation that restricts local control on carbon pipelines. South Dakotans this November will vote on a referendum that would provide new regulations for linear transmission facilities, like Summit Carbon Solutions and its proposed eight-billion-dollar multistate pipeline, that could curb greenhouse gas emissions. The project would transport ethanol plant emissions underground to long-term storage, traveling through 18 eastern South Dakota counties and impacting about 1,000 private landowners along the way, according to DominaLaw Group. The law would allow counties a one-dollar-per-foot surcharge on pipelines, but Chase Jensen with Dakota Rural Action says if voters pass the bill, companies will have more power on private land.

Jensen says the law’s language around creating a “landowner bill of rights” is a misnomer. According to a recent poll from Embold research, 65-percent of South Dakotans disapprove of the law.

In a statement, Summit said its goal is to secure “100-percent voluntary easement agreements,” but it did not rule out using eminent domain, or the taking of private property for public use. In an opinion filed last month, South Dakota’s Supreme Court remanded a case involving Summit, and is asking a lower court whether carbon transported through a pipeline is a commodity. If it is, then it’s easier for Summit to invoke eminent domain. Here’s Jensen.

Last year, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission denied permit applications from both Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator C-O-TWO. There are also concerns about public and environmental safety.