Developers of a proposed carbon pipeline that would traverse Iowa are eyeing the next step in the process.

The final informational meeting for Summit Carbon Solutions' Midwest Carbon Express pipeline is set for Friday in Page County at the Shenandoah Public Library. Once it wraps, the company must wait at least 30 days before petitioning the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) for a permit to construct the pipeline. After a petition is filed, public evidentiary hearings will be held in each affected county for interested parties to present evidence in favor or against the project. The IUB will base its final decision on the record created at the hearings.

The Ames-based company announced the $4.5 billion project earlier this year. If it gets the go-ahead, the pipeline would connect 31 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota in the hopes of reducing their carbon emissions to make ethanol a more environmentally safe product. Area facilities that would be connected to the pipeline include Green Plains in Dickinson County, Little Sioux Corn Processors in Cherokee County, Quad County Corn Processors in Ida County and Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux County.

The route of the project is tentative. In O'Brien County, current plans call for the pipeline to run east and west traversing through the entire county between Primghar and Paullina. Another line will connect to the aforementioned route running north and south between Paullina and the border with Sioux County. In all, the proposed pipeline in O'Brien County would total 33.84 miles.

In Clay County, the pipeline's main route would run east and west through the entire county just south of Royal but slightly north of the communities of Rossie, Greenville and Gillett Grove. Another line would run north and south east of Dickens and would connect with the east/west route near Gillett Grove. The total length of anticipated pipeline in Clay County is 41.76 miles.

The actual pipeline itself will range from four inches to 24 inches in diameter and will be buried at least four feet underground. Construction on the project is hoped to start in 2023 and last between 12-15 months. Summit Carbon Solutions hopes the system will be in operation sometime in 2024.

Summit Carbon Solutions will need easements from landowners along the route to construct the pipeline. According to information presented Oct. 8 during an informational meeting in Spencer, the company would enact eminent domain procedures if voluntary easements prove troublesome.

As far as the land easements themselves, the company plans to utilize third-party sources to determine fair market value in each county and offer landowners 100 percent of that value for a voluntary easement. After the project is constructed, landowners will continue to be able to use the land as they had before, according to the company.

Summit Carbon Solutions has also pledged to provide compensation to landowners for crop damages, including 100 percent the first year, 80 percent the second year and 60 percent the third year. Additionally, it has promised to work with each landowner to repair or replace drain tile wherever it is impacted by the construction of the project.

Comments and objections regarding the project can be filed on the IUB's website. The docket number is HLP-2021-0001.