By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – For the third meeting in a row, the Minnehaha County Commission had open testimony and discussed a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would run through the county if Summit Carbon Solutions has its way.
At the Tuesday, April 5, meeting, for the first time in two years, the chairs in the room were back at “pre-COVID” numbers to accommodate the people present.
Again, people were there to oppose the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, even though, not as many spoke this time, as Commission Chair Cindy Heiberger specifically asked the audience not to be repeating comments made in the past.
The first person to speak against the project, Rick Bonander of Valley Springs, began by asking people in the room to stand if they were representatives of their Minnehaha County group against the pipeline.
At that point, most of the over 40 people present stood.
Bonander and the five others who spoke asked the county to do three things, place a moratorium on pipelines placed in the county, put zoning requirements in place that would require a farther setback than 50 feet from an occupied property and to bury the pipeline deeper than the planned three to four feet, and to become a party “at the table” before the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
While the PUC will be taking comments up until they vote on the matter, the deadline to apply to become a party to the process was Friday, April 8, at 5:00 p.m.
A party in this process allows a person or group to be present for any discussions about the issue.
The two loudest comments of the meeting came from Joy Hohn of Hartford, as well as Commissioner Jeff Barth.
Hohn was adamant in her appeal that “We need YOU, Minnehaha County Commissioners, to protect the citizens of the county.”
She emphasized how CO2 was colorless and odorless and could kill people in as little as 15 minutes.
“You are responsible to the people of Minnehaha County, not to Summit to put billions of dollars into their greedy pocket,” Hohn said.
As Heiberger stressed, the subject on the agenda was to address a letter that was drafted to be sent to the PUC.
The entire text of the letter can be found on the Minnehaha County website in item 12 of the packet for the April 5 meeting.
However, other than stating the factual dates and specifics that the PUC would already know, (i.e., what is being proposed the dates when certain meetings happened, and items regarding specific comments made to the Minnehaha County Commission), Barth did not feel like the letter was strong enough in expressing the negative views of the project that commissioners had expressed when the matter first came up on March 15.
“I don’t like the letter; it’s too mild-mannered,” Barth said. “(The pipeline project) is bad for the land, it’s bad for the people, and it’s bad for the county. We need to do the best to protect our people, our land, and our way of life.”
The room erupted in applause after Barth finished.
He was also concerned about what would happen to the CO2 after it reached North Dakota.
Summit has said that if the CO2 gas was used in fracking, then the project would not be available for the carbon tax credits that Summit is banking on to make the project economically feasible.
Barth said that he didn’t put too much stock in this, as he felt that the CO2 could be sold at some point in the future.
Others present also said they did not trust the words of pipeline companies, as Hohn spoke of a neighbor, whom she said was present, that reported surveyors on his land without permission.
And Chase Jensen from Dakota Rural Action spoke of Summit’s lack of being forthcoming with a report of a “worst case scenario” rupture modeling study.
But back to the PUC letter, Commissioner Dean Karsky did say he thought it was well-constructed, and it reported the many claims people brought to the commission.
Commissioner Jean Bender mentioned that no one commented on the letter having problems, and that she was supportive of it.
The text of the letter does conclude with the following statement: “The Minnehaha County Commission firmly concurs with these concerns related to PUC Docket HP22-001 in its current form. Further, the Minnehaha County Commission urges the Public Utilities Commission to seriously consider the comments of the citizens of South Dakota as a primary variable in determining the outcome of this PUC Docket HP22-001.”
So, while sandwiched in between what some would call “legalese,” the letter does read the commission agrees with the concerns expressed.
And in the end, the commission voted 5-0 to send the letter as written.
An agenda item
At about the same time this meeting was going on, in Canton, the Lincoln County Commission met and did address an agenda item to be made a party to the PUC in this matter.
By a 3 to 1, that board voted to apply for party status with the PUC on matter of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline.
Commissioners James Jibben, Tiffani Landeen and Jim Schmidt voted in favor, Commissioner Joel Arends voted against it, and Commissioner Michael Poppens abstained.
The next meeting of the Minnehaha County Commission will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 19, in the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
