Navigator reverses course, pulls CO2 pipeline permit application in Illinois
Navigator Heartland Greenway, a company wanting to build a $3.5 billion carbon dioxide sequestration pipeline across five states, has now hit the pause button on the permit application in Illinois, the third state in which the company has done so within a matter of weeks.
Navigator filed a motion to voluntarily withdraw its permit application with the Illinois Commerce Commission Tuesday morning, citing a need to take time to perform a "full evaluation" of its route and application.
The filing, submitted by Navigator attorney Owen MacBride, also indicates the company intends to resubmit its permit application in Illinois — "if appropriate."
Illinois is a key state for Navigator, as it is the planned host for the company's sequestration sites, which allow the company to deposit carbon dioxide into the earth. Without both the pipeline infrastructure and sequestration sites secured in Illinois, the company will have to look to other states to sequester carbon.
If Navigator cannot acquire sequestration permits in other states, the sequestration aspects of the pipeline will not be feasible.
This is the second time Navigator has withdrawn its permit before the ICC. The company withdrew its first permit application in Jan. 2021 after the company changed its pipeline route in the state.
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In June, Navigator, in a written statement, told the Argus Leader it would not withdraw its application.
"Navigator CO2’s Heartland Greenway project continues to follow the robust local, state, and federal regulatory processes for large-scale infrastructure projects," a statement from the company read at the time. "We look forward to continue working with Illinois landowners and regulators developing a safe and responsible project."
This was — and is — despite the significant unpopularity of the project in the Prairie State. According to a Sept. 14 rebuttal statement from ICC Senior Gas Engineer Mark Maple, the staff member said the project has only acquired 14.9% of its necessary easements to build the pipeline in the state. He added he had not seen such a low percentage in his "25 years of professional experience."
"Navigator Heartland Greenway has filed a motion to voluntarily withdraw its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) for a permit to construct the Illinois portion of its proposed CO2 pipeline system," Navigator spokesperson Andy Bates wrote in an e-mail statement to Argus Leader. "As is consistent with our recent filings in neighboring jurisdictions, Navigator will be taking time to reassess the route and application. Being cognizant of ICC resources, Navigator will withdraw its current application with the intent to reinitiate Illinois permitting, if appropriate, when Navigator’s full evaluation is complete."
The withdrawal motion comes less than a week after Iowa regulators approved the company's motion to also pause the pipeline route in the state. This also follows Navigator's defeat in South Dakota, in which the state Public Utilities Commission unanimously denied the company's permit in September.
This story is developing.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Navigator withdrawing carbon pipeline permit application in Illinois
