Two Bills Addressing Carbon Pipeline Concerns Clear Iowa House Subcommittees
A bill that would require Summit Carbon Solutions to show it has enough insurance to cover all damages from an underground carbon pipeline rupture has cleared initial review in the Iowa House.
Representative Steven Holt says the cost and liability in a rupture would hit property owners as well as local governments responding to the disaster.
Cynthia Hansen’s family owns land in Shelby County that’s in the pipeline’s path. She says options to insure themselves against a rupture are limited.
A spokesperson for Summit says that, to secure its permit, the company was required to have at least a 100 MILLION dollar insurance policy and the ability to compensate landowners for damages from construction.
Another carbon pipeline-related bill would require members of the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) to attend IUC hearings and informational meetings. Holt says House Speaker Pat Grassley attended a public meeting scheduled by the IUC, but no one from the commission was there to hear comments from the public.
Jessica Mazour with the Sierra Club’s Iowa chapter says it’s another example of IUC commissioners’ disrespect toward property owners.
Similar bills have been filed in the Iowa Senate, but no subcommittee hearings on either senate bill have been scheduled.
Sections of Summit’s proposed pipeline would be built in Floyd, Chickasaw, Bremer, Cerro Gordo, Fayette, Butler, Mitchell and Franklin counties.
