Johnson County considers ways it can oppose potential carbon capture pipeline

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is working to prepare its staff and make key decisions ahead of the Iowa Utilities Board's consideration of a carbon capture pipeline that could run through the county.

The board directed county staff Wednesday to get ready for the possibility of the pipeline being constructed in Johnson County. The Supervisors also informally decided to hire Snyder & Associates Inc. as its designated inspector for the project, if it does end up crossing into the county.

Wolf Carbon Solutions, partnering with Archer Daniels Midland Co., proposed a pipeline running through eastern Iowa and is seeking approval through the Iowa Utilities Board. A map of a proposed pipeline shows the main artery of the 350-mile project would extend from an ADM location in Cedar Rapids, cutting southeast through Johnson, Linn, Cedar, Clinton and Scott counties. A second lateral line would run north from Davenport to another ADM location in Clinton.

The pipeline is intended to transport carbon dioxide from ADM’s ethanol and cogeneration facilities in Clinton and Cedar Rapids to be stored permanently underground at ADM’s already-operational sequestration site in Decatur, Illinois.

While the main line wouldn't go directly through Johnson County, the proposed route's two-mile corridor does include the northeastern part of the county. This means the county is not guaranteed to have the pipeline built in its borders.

Other pipeline proposals in Iowa have avoided running through Johnson County, where opposition is expected. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to send a letter of opposition to the IUB.

Why Johnson County Supervisors have limited input about pipeline

Josh Busard, the director of the county planning, development and sustainability department, said the county has limited authority to set zoning and code standards for how the companies can build on Johnson County land, like it would with more local projects. The IUB holds this authority, but the county can give input.

"Wow, so basically we're screwed," Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass responded. "It feels very much like our ability to have any kind of input is so tight and limited and at their discretion whether we get any at all."

Wolf Carbon Solutions is set to hold several public meetings starting in late August. The only one in Johnson County is noon Aug. 29 in the North Liberty Community Center, Gerdin Conference Hall, at 520 W. Cherry St.

Green-Douglass and Supervisor Jon Green were designated by the county to attend.

The final meeting will be virtual at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at iub.iowa.gov

The Johnson County Supervisors do have the ability to make the pipeline's construction here a tougher venture for Wolf-ADM and provide oversight of the project. The Supervisors have also sent letters of opposition to the other two proposed pipelines in Iowa, even though they do not run through the county.

One tactic: County inspections and request for restoration of agricultural lands

State code allows Johnson County to petition the IUB for additional rule-making authority as it relates to the restoration of agricultural lands. This means the county can ask the IUB to impose additional standards to be met by the company. The county can't ask that the pipeline fully comply with county zoning codes, like requiring it only be built in industrial zones.

During construction, the county can conduct on-site inspections and check for compliance. The county also has the power to determine when the project portion within its borders is officially complete and when the land it sits on has been restored.

The county can also consider adopting a code for pipelines that can focus on safety or emergency management requirements.

"We cannot stop carbon pipelines, but I would like to think we can take steps to mitigate any issue caused by carbon pipelines," Busard said.

The county's compensation board is also empowered to be part of determining the amount of money given to residents whose land is taken away by eminent domain and any damage the construction of the pipeline causes.

The board's opposition is made more complicated by the fact that the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden on Tuesday includes significant benefits for industries pursuing this technology, which could drive the creation of more of these pipelines.

All three pipelines proposed in Iowa want to sequester 12 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, which Busard said is only 0.25% of total emissions in the U.S. every year.

Busard explained how the center line of the pipeline's route does not run through Johnson County, but the corridor does enter the northeastern corner in Cedar Township and Sutliff. The center line is the preferred route, but the pipeline could fall anywhere in the corridor.

"The actual location of the pipeline could be anywhere in this one-mile route corridor," he said.

How dangerous are pipelines? Johnson County officials offer data

In explaining how the gas is changed to a liquid for transportation in this pipeline, Busard said the substance becoming supercritical, under higher pressure and at a higher temperature than a normal liquid, seems to be more problematic to him.

Busard brought this up again when talking about the safety of the pipelines and other issues that are bringing heavy opposition to the project, such as effects on the environment, economy and whether eminent domain will be used by the private company to acquire the land.

Busard told the board that accidents on these pipelines rarely happen, which he defined as anything from a hose becoming disconnected and fuel spilling, to the pipeline "exploding and leveling five square miles."

Green-Douglass pushed back on this, claiming leaks in the pipeline, which she also defines as accidents, are common to the point that they're expected.

Busard presented data that shows the total number of incidents for three different types of pipelines and the number of incidents per 1,000 KM of pipelines between 1990 and 2013. Between 1994 and 2013, the data showed carbon dioxide pipelines had 64 total incidents in the U.S., but a rate of 0.64 per 5,000 KM of pipeline per year.

This rate is higher than natural gas pipelines but lower than hazardous liquid pipelines. The data that was presented is also based on a small sample size of carbon dioxide pipelines compared to the others.

Dave Wilson, the Johnson County emergency management director, said the county already has a number of pipelines and his department is ready to respond to incidents. But he said it has been at least 15 years since he was hired and no large-scale pipeline accidents have happened.

He said people have accidentally bored through pipelines and sometimes people sabotage them. He said the last one predated his tenure and occurred east of Iowa City with a Mid-American Pipeline Co. line.

The AP reported on this accident that took place in 1987 near West Branch, which didn't injure any employees but did injure two firefighters responding to the blaze it caused.

"When they happen, they certainly make the news. I can tell you that for us, the transportation issues that keep me up at night is not the pipelines. It generally has to do with the transport of things by rail or by highway," Wilson said.

Like the Board of Supervisors, several other entities and individuals have sent letters of opposition to the IUB. As of Thursday, letters of opposition total 96 while letters of support total two.

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (515) 350-6307, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Johnson County Supervisors plan opposition to carbon capture pipeline