Kelly Nieuwenhuis is no stranger to hard work. "I'm a family farmer. I farm with two brothers. This would be my 40th year in 2023." He's been part of the biofuels industry for years and has watched it grow and evolve with a changing market. "I've been involved in the biofuels industry for 20 years," he told me on a visit to his farm. "And the last 10 years I've been involved in the industry and definitely focused on carbon in tax reductions or carbon intensity reductions." Farming in O'Brien County, Iowa, he's one of several landowners who have proposed carbon capture pipelines mapped for their property and he's already on board. Summit Carbon Solutions and Heartland Greenway's Navigator CO2 Ventures are two liquid carbon-capture pipelines in production through the central United States. They would carry liquid CO2 from ethanol plants to a central location for underground sequestration. The success of these pipelines relies largely on voluntary easements signed by the landowners like Nieuwenhuis on the route. "I was on board right away. Absolutely," he said of the pipelines. He's signed easements with both companies to install their pipelines through his farmland. "Nut the absolute best thing you could do is you could capture and sequester underground permanently." Carbon has become a commodity in the ag industry and it's in many everyday items we use. "A lot of this stuff is used in carbonation, it's used in refrigeration, it's used in dry ice," Nieuwenhuis explained. "Markets are somewhat saturated, so we need to find another place for the CO2 to reduce the CO2 emissions." "Prior to the ethanol industry or biofuels, we had livestock and we had exports and if those didn't work or the export numbers were down, we overproduced and we're subsidized," Nieuwenhuis said as he explained what he calls the 'agricultural stool. "And then we built the third leg of the stool, the biofuels industry, and that's been the absolute best wealth-building industry." THE EASEMENT LOCATION The area of Nieuwenhuis' farmland where the Summit and Navigator pipelines will be laid is a few miles from his home. We drove to the area so I could see it for myself. "The Summit pipeline is going to go straight east and west right here," he pointed as we looked over his farmland on a windy February day. "Just over the hill there I have a natural gas pipeline that goes diagonally that's been there for 40-50 years and then behind that, probably 200-300 yards to the west of that is where the Navigator line is going to go, diagonally across." "And how much of this area is the easement for the construction?" I asked. "They are going to have a 50-foot-wide permanent easement and then a 50-foot temporary during the construction phase," Nieuwenhuis explained. Nieuwenhuis has already received payment for the estimated crop damage to his land. "You know they pay you, compensate you for crop damages over three to five years or longer," he said. He's already received part of those payments. "After three years, we stopped seeing issues with crop damages." The Dakota Access oil pipeline runs through his farmland already. Several years removed from when it was installed, he says he doesn't see any change in yield. "We've got yield maps that show over the last two years, we can't see the pipeline," he explained. "We're pretty confident that over time, I'm not saying it's an instant repair, things take a few years and that's why they pay in three to five years in crop damages or more if there's an issue. But I've learned to not say the word 'never' or 'forever' because it doesn't harm the property forever or anything like that." Overall, Nieuwenhuis sees carbon capture as the next major step forward for the ag industry. "It just came home from the U.S. Grains Council meetings, and every country was talking about the need to lower your carbon intensities, and in their markets, they're paying you a premium to do it. And so I think if the biofuels industry wants to compete with the rest of the energy industry." And as the world rallies for net-zero emissions by the year 2030, "that's a huge step to the race to net zero," said Nieuwehnuis. "And I think we can get to net zero in the next decade in biofuels and with the energy of the world focusing on low carbon we need to meet or continue to improve our process to stay in the game." FOLLOW FOR MORE "Along the Route: A Pipeline Discussion" is a multi-part series of reports looking at everything from the companies that want to build them to those "for" and those "against" and a deeper dive into to carbon and ethanol industries at the center of the project. SEE THE VIDEO
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For many residents in the Midwest, farming isn't their job. It's their life. Land passed from generation to generation, decades of history throughout the grounds. We have a century farm," said Woodbury County landowner Deb Main, "My dad entrusted me to care for his land.Now, two multi-million dollar companies want to use that land to install carbon capture pipelines across the central United States. "We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on easements to date to the U.S. landowner and we're not stopping," said Summit CEO Lee Blank. "We're going to continue to do that until we get ourselves in a position where we got 100%." THE PIPELINES Summit Carbon Solutions plans to build a pipeline that will take liquid CO2 from ethanol plants in five states into an underground storage facility in Bismarck, North Dakota. Heartland Greenway's Navigator CO2 Ventures pipeline runs on the same concept. Capture liquid CO2 and store it underground in south-central Illinois. To do this, both companies need voluntary easements from landowners along the route of their pipelines, giving them permission to pass through hundreds of miles of private land. "We have great success in all areas throughout the project footprint to date, but that is necessarily a long-term process," said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for Navigator. "So again, landowner negotiations necessarily are weeks and months type of progress, not something that you do in a matter of days." Those negotiations are for easements that give each company access to private land to work and install the pipeline. "Negotiation is far more broad than that," said Burns-Thompson. "Negotiation is how that pipeline is put in. Is there different and additional restoration steps that you as a landowner want to include or delineate as part of that? Is there a different placement of that pipe that you would like to see as part of that? So again, placement of the pipe, how we do the work, and then ultimately also how that compensation looks. That is what is encompassed in that negotiation." EASEMENT AGREEMENTS Kelly Nieuwenhuis lives and farms near Primghar, Iowa. Farming is a family business. So we're pretty proud of that, that we have a family farm and been doing it for 40 years. He's already reached easement agreements with both Summit and Navigator for access to his farmland. "We negotiated with both of them," he told me on his farm in northwest Iowa. "We had very respectable land agents come to our farms and visit with us and we probably met with them three or four times at least and we asked for a few other things that we wanted done. And they were happy to do that." Part of the easement agreement details potential property damage, and for farmland, potential crop losses. That isn't just for the time of construction, but for several years after. "We feel like we're partnering with the U.S. agricultural landowner, as well as others that have easements and with those partnerships, we're working through this economic discussion," said Blank. "Also talking through the nuts and bolts of compensation," said Burns-Thompson. "And so making sure that what we're putting forward is something that's fair and that's what's in the eyes of the beholder. So we necessarily want to make sure that we're taking the time to talk to folks and figuring out something that's fair and equitable." Summit Carbon Solutions has more than 65% of the easements needed for their project footprint, according to the latest numbers sent to Siouxland News on April 3, 2023.
Navigator CO2 Ventures says they have spent upwards of $15.5 million on easement payments to landowners in the project path as of April 5, 2023.
LANDOWNERS HOLDING OUT But not everyone in the path of the pipeline is on board. "Without the limitation of contact with landowners, then land agents are still harassing landowners incessantly to sign easements and offering more and more and more money, which is the bribery situation. It's not a business plan. It's a bribery situation." Deb Main is one of more than a dozen landowners in the tri-state area who oppose these pipelines. She has yet to sign an easement to give the companies access to her land. "And that's a proposed pipeline route also," she explained about the proposed pipeline path through her property. "It doesn't mean they're going to stick with that because some people have signed an easement because it just went across the corner of my property. Well, now it goes like (Roger's property), down the middle because they can put it anywhere on your property they want." I sat down with nearly a dozen landowners and residents who oppose the pipelines to discuss why they are fighting back against these multi-million dollar companies. One of their biggest points was easements. "It goes from a six-inch pipeline to a 24-inch pipeline," said Stee Maxwell, another landowner from northwest Iowa. "It seems to be a lot of variances as far as how large the pipeline is, and like to say we got that much pressure coming through that pipeline, that's going to be..." "And the depths," echoed Jim Colyer. "I've heard from three foot to eight foot. So, what is it going to be? During these informative meetings, you hear lots of different stories." Landowners were sent certified letters in 2021, informing them of the pipelines and informational meetings held in each county the pipelines were passing through. "At the informative meetings that are required in Iowa by the Iowa Utilities Board," said Main, "you not only got the information from the pipeline company, but outside the meeting, they had survey companies there and land agents and they invited you to go talk with them and schedule your survey and sign an easement before you knew anything about this." DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE Both companies are still working with landowners on negotiations to find an agreement that suits the needs of all parties involved. We want to make sure that this truly is a dialogue to negotiation that's two-sided and we're coming to the table with ears wide open," said Burns-Thompson."We haven't had the opportunity to really explain the economic model," said Blank. "Some of the economics that we're delivering, a lot of the economics we're delivering, they're different because every farmer landowner has got a different situation. There may be things that are unique, that could change the economics, the agricultural economics around the easements that we actually are paying for." That payment the companies are offering, Nieuwenhuis says, is satisfactory. "I figured on my property where the permanent easement was, if I was guaranteed a $300 an acre profit forever, it would take me over 100 years equal this one-time payment," Nieuwenhuis explained, "so pretty satisfied with the compensation." But for some, that land they hold is priceless. "The easements are permanent easements," said Jodie Wilson, who is fighting for her mother's rights as a property owner. "They are just not for the project. They get done with it after they’ve collected all of their tax credits, they could sell it to another company and we have no say about it and we just have to live with it." Jim Colyer: It’s forever. Roger Schmid: It hangs on your land forever. FOLLOW FOR MORE "Along the Route: A Pipeline Discussion" is a multi-part series of reports looking at everything from the companies that want to build them to those "for" and those "against" and a deeper dive into to carbon and ethanol industries at the center of the project. SEE THE VIDEO Lincolnway Energy is an ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa. It's one of dozens of ethanol plants scattered across the Midwest. Its largest byproduct is carbon dioxide. Upwards of 5 billion tons are emitted in the U.S. every year. Now, three companies want to sequester that gas, liquify it, and store it underground. That process is known as carbon sequestration and it has become a hot-button topic across the corn belt. "I think it's really great to partner up with Summit Carbon Solutions because it's going to secure the future of ethanol plants," said Chris Cleveland, "not only Lincolnway here, but other ethanol producers along with the farmers and the corn growers and their future and their next generations, too." SUMMIT CARBON SOLUTIONS Summit Carbon Solutions has partnered with Lincolnway Energy to capture and sequester its carbon dioxide. Summit is one of the corporations with plans to build a $3.7 billion liquid carbon-capture pipeline through the Midwest. "It's compressing that carbon, putting it into a transportation infrastructure system or a pipeline and then moving it to a sequestration site, which ultimately will then store that carbon molecule under Caprock in North Dakota." Lee Blank is the CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. "Really what I liken it to maybe the transcontinental railroad. You know, in 1862 I believe, we decided as a country to open markets up and the railroad helped us do that. That's really what this does." If you think about the infrastructure project almost as logistics, it opens markets for plants like this one here in Nevada to give it other places that they can ship their products at a premium.Summit's pipeline will connect more than 30 ethanol plants across five states, spanning 2,000 miles, capturing more than 12 million tons of CO2 each year. The pressurized liquid carbon dioxide will be stored deep underground near Bismarck, North Dakota. If everything goes according to plan, "we would hope to be fully operational first quarter of 2025," Lee said. NAVIGATOR CO2 VENTURES "Navigator CO2 is a midstream company, midstream meaning pipeline. So the folks that work for our team are individuals that have a great level of experience and expertise designing, constructing, and operating midstream or pipeline infrastructure all around the United States." A second pipeline, Heartland Greenway's Navigator CO2 Ventures, will also capture and liquefy CO2 from ethanol producers to be stored in South-Central Illinois. "The Heartland Greenway, the project itself, at its initial kind of stages, looks to be about 1,300 miles of new pipeline infrastructure, connecting 21 facilities across five states here in the corn belt," said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for Navigator. "All of that infrastructure is really looking to do carbon management at its core, right." We've taken that skill set, curated it into the CO2 space and brought forward the project the Heartland Greenway that's being talked about largely today.Navigator's pipeline, once installed and in operation, will capture and store approximately 15 million metric tons of CO2 a year. They too, plan to be up and running in 2025. WOLF CARBON SOLUTIONS A third carbon capture pipeline, Wolf Carbon Solutions, is a smaller 280-mile pipeline crossing Cedar Rapids and Davenport in eastern Iowa on its way to storage sites in Illinois. These three pipelines have been met with heavy resistance from some landowners along their path. THE LANDOWNERS It was just out of the blue. We got a registered mail, and it just notified us what they were thinking about doing and the meeting, the upcoming meeting.Roger Schmid is one of those landowners. Living in northwest Iowa, he and hundreds of others received registered letters in the mail informing them of a meeting with Summit and Navigator. Those meetings announced the project and informed these landowners they were in the path of these pipelines. Landowners are asked to sign easements allowing the pipeline to pass through their property. Some are not on board, like Jim Colyer. "Whatever meetings that we have attended on the informational meeting, the information is different," Colyer told me. "So they have honed their skill on what they're telling us over different meetings, in different places and other people, that we've all heard from meetings in different counties, in different towns. And we know that they've told us different things. And I don't know if they're all false, but they seem to be leaning towards benefit rather than safety. And that is one of our main concerns is safety." "Our legislature should be standing up. Our county governments need to stand up," said Doyle Turner, another Iowan fighting against the installation of these pipelines. "But the big thing that we need is for more people to realize this affects a lot more people than just these landowners and that we all need to be stepping up and talking to our county board of supervisors. We need to be talking to our state legislators. We need to talk to our federal legislators." THE PIPELINE DISCUSSION REACHES STATE CAPITOLS AND THE COURTS Many legislators are on board with carbon sequestration. "It's value-added agriculture and it's adding value for the farmers," said Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen at a Siouxland Ethanol event in March 2023. "We raise an incredibly low carbon footprint corn but also the sequestration to be able to sell our ethanol to the markets we're able to capture more value. "Sequestration is really critical whether we're piping it or whether it's a formation that is close to a plant," Pillen said. "Both have to happen, they are both safe. They are critical to energy independence." But questions arise about using eminent domain to make these projects happen, which is where much of the debate has happened in legislatures across the Midwest. "The use of eminent domain is a last resort scenario, especially on a project like this," said Nebraska Representative Adrian Smith. "Ultimately, it's an infrastructure project and there's been some misinformation out there in terms of what the pipelines do. It's actually the safest way to transport products. All things considered, it's my hope that the right of way can be achieved and accomplished without the use of eminent domain." Both Summit and Navigator are taking the fight over property rights to court. In Woodbury County, Vicki Hulse is fighting to keep Navigator land surveyors off of her property. Her 151 acres of land are something she holds with pride. "We have worked hard to pay for our land," Hulse told me during an interview at the Siouxland News studios in September 2022. "We bought the farm from his dad's estate, and he worked two jobs. I work two jobs to pay for this farm. And we have two children that we want to hand the farm down to. And I'm fighting against eminent domain for private gain." In March 2023, Hulse and Navigator presented their cases in Woodbury County Court where they now await a judge's ruling on separate injunctions for access to Hulse's land. In spite of the resistance, Summit, Navigator, and Wolf are pushing forward with the goal of changing the CO2 landscape in the Midwest. "I believe it's a big part of the future of the family farms and the next generation," said Cleveland with Lincolnway Energy. FOLLOW FOR MORE "Along the Route: A Pipeline Discussion" is a multi-part series of reports looking at everything from the companies that want to build them to those "for" and those "against" and a deeper dive into to carbon and ethanol industries at the center of the project. SEE THE VIDEO The trial for a Woodbury County couple began Tuesday as they fight to keep a liquid carbon dioxide pipeline off their property. William and Vicki Hulse who live in rural Moville twice denied surveyors for Heartland Greenway’s Navigator CO2 Pipeline access to their property in the Summer of 2022, who sought to perform environmental and cultural surveys where their proposed pipeline was mapped to be routed. Navigator then sued for a temporary injunction citing Iowa state law gave them permission to survey land without landowner permission. That injunction was denied by District Court Judge Roger Sailer in September 2022. The Hulse’s are challenging the constitutionality of Iowa’s law that would in turn give companies, like Navigator, the right to access private land for surveys and examinations regardless of landowner approval. The Hulses have also filed a counterclaim, seeking an injunction of their own to keep Navigator representatives off their property until the issue is resolved. Tuesday's trial will decide on a permanent injunction for Navigator and also rule on Hulse's unconstitutionality claim. READ MORE: "I knew that I was going to fight this": Woodbury Co. woman fights against CO2 pipeline Navigator, one of two proposed liquid CO2 pipelines slated for northwest Iowa, is a $3 billion project that would sequester CO from ethanol plants and other manufacturers through five states to be stored underground in south-central Illinois. Navigator's pipeline will run roughly 900 miles through 36 counties in Iowa, many of them in northwest Iowa. The Hulses are one of four Iowa landowners the company has sued for rights to access their private property. Trial began Tuesday morning with a gallery of pipeline opponents in attendance. Navigator’s first witness Ann Marie Welshans, and the only one of the morning, is Navigator's Director of Right of Way who was questioned about the validity and process of sending certified letters to landowners and how the company verifies the landowners received the notice about the surveys. Welshans says the surveys are a necessary part of the planning process for the pipeline. “The survey will allow us to determine what obstacles could be in the way,” Welshans testified, saying the survey helps to determine if there needs to be a possible reroute, see the geography of the land, and define other easements in the routed path. Following a short break, Vicki Hulse was called to testify by Navigator's legal team, seeking confirmation that Hulse spoke to a land agent regarding the pipeline and easement requests. Hulse stated she attended a public meeting for the pipeline, but did not meet with a land agent at that time, but was eventually called by one. “(The land agent) actually called my children who are not on the deed and they called me,” Hulse explained, “then she called me.” Hulse’s children do not reside at the residence, and Hulse states they do not live near the area. The person who leases their farmland, court records state, was also not notified by Navigator about the land surveys. Speaking on the survey and easement discussion with Navigator, Hulse stated she doesn’t recall being asked if the pipeline company could access her property for a survey but says she wouldn’t have allowed it either way. "If someone asked you to sign a voluntary easement for a co2 pipeline, you would not want to do that either,” Navigator’s lawyer asked. "That is correct,” Hulse stated. Hulse stated for the record that surveyors called the sheriff’s office after Hulse refused them access to her land. “I remember a surveyor calling me and saying, we’re going to bring the sheriff out and I said okay, I will meet you there.” Navigator's attorney's asked Hulse if she was worried about damage to her land by the surveyors. "Apparently they did a couple of surveys and I didn't even know it," Hulse stated. "So I guess I am going to have to check that out and I am very concerned about my CRP ground and the contract I have with the government. And I don't want them out there trampling all over my CRP ground." Part of Hulse’s land is enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, a federal program that pays landowners to leave parcels of their land untouched for at least a decade. Hulse states she was unaware of surveys already done on her property by Navigator agents and she’s concerned about the damage possibly done to her CRP land. She says she is fighting now to uphold her rights as a landowner. "I just feel it's against my property rights as an owner that they can come on our property any time of day against my will, any time that they want they can survey my land against my knowledge and go anywhere on my property as many times as they want and I just don't feel that that's right." Hulse has power of attorney over her husband, William Hulse, who suffers from dementia and currently resides in the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown, Iowa. Vicki Hulse has been in this fight with Navigator largely on her own. "He was in the Army in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange and how has dementia and Parkinson’s,” Hulse stated on the stand. Hulse’s time on the stand lasted about an hour. Daniel Rogers, who works for a company hired by Navigator to help facilitate the surveys, was called to Hulse’s property after a worker denied surveyors access to the Hulse property due to Hulse’s opposition to the pipeline. “I am there for problems between landowners and surveyor,” he said on the stand following Hulse’s testimony. He, the sheriff’s deputy, and a survey team went back to the property two days later and were served a letter from Hulse’s attorney denying them entry. The survey team left the property. Rogers claims Hulse told him over the phone that she rejected the certified letters from the pipeline. He then stated that he brought a copy of the letter to the Hulse property the day he and the surveyors attempted to gain access with the sheriff’s office. Part of the evidence brought to trial by Navigator included the certified letter addressed to the Hulses that was marked refused, which was challenged by Hulse's attorney. Rogers was the final witness for Navigator. The defense did not call any witnesses in the case. Trial proceedings concluded Tuesday afternoon and Judge Sailer will release his decision on Navigator's request for a permanent injunction and his ruling on the constitutionality of the pipeline laws at a later date. SEE THE VIDEO Backers of Summit Carbon CO2 Pipeline tour Ida County corn processor as plans move forward11/30/2022 Just off Highway 20 outside of Galva, Iowa in Ida County, Quad County Corn Processors is one of 32 facilities partnering with Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon capture and storage project. Wednesday morning they invited stakeholders and members of the media to the facility for a tour to see how this partnership could benefit Iowans. In operation since the 2000s, QCCP is a leader in ethanol production in Iowa. They've partnered with Summit Carbon Solutions and their proposed pipeline to capture the CO2 the plant creates. "We actually use every piece of the kernel of corn all the way from protein to converting the fiber to cellulosic, so low carbon intense ethanol and also now the co2 value," said Delayne Johnson, CEO of Quad County Corn Processors. Currently, about 60% of that CO2 is released into the atmosphere. Johnson wants to change that. "This is going to bring our carbon intensity of our fuel down," he said. "And it really just brings more to our bottom line and allows us to have a good bid for our farmers for the corn that they produce." During our tour of the processing plant, we had the chance to see the corn processing systems up close. Johnson says capturing their CO2 instead of releasing it will help Northwest Iowa's Ag community in the future. "If there's lower demand for ethanol at times when people have to produce less, it'll be the plants that are not connected to the CO2 pipelines that will actually reduce their run rates or have to shut down," said Johnson, "so we see this as a way to add competitiveness to quad county value proposition which also adds value to the farmers in the local communities." "But these proposed CO2 pipelines aren't being well received by some landowners in their path. There are lawsuits against Summit and Heartland Greenway, the other proposed CO2 pipeline in several Iowa counties. Summit says they are still pushing forward. "There are about 170,000 miles of pipelines across the five states in which we operate. There are over 5000 miles of co2 pipelines in operation in the US currently," said Jim Pirolli with Summit Carbon Solutions. "And a lot of these projects have been in service for many, many years." Summit says they have almost 52% of the easements needed from landowners for the entire project. "Across the entire project, we're about 52% of the easements have been signed. That's over 2,050 miles," said Pirolli, "so well over 1,000 miles of voluntary easements had been signed almost 60% in Iowa, and that's over $100 million spent paid to landowners for those easements just in this state. About $240 million of easement payments across the entire system." Summit is confident in its pipeline and Quad County Corn Processors are eager to get started with the project ultimately capturing 100% of their CO2 emissions. "We see this as adding about $4-5 million to our bottom line every year as we go forward. And that's a very unique opportunity," Johnson said. "We don't get those types of opportunities often. We also believe that being on a pipeline is critical to be part of the future. Summit Carbon Solutions hopes to have the permits needed by next summer with construction beginning fall of 2023. Their goal is to be fully operational by the year 2024. SEE THE VIDEO The fight over CO2 pipelines in Iowa continued Tuesday night, Oct. 4th at Briar Cliff University, with a proposed solution.
Prairies Not Pipelines was a community discussion over transforming parts of Iowa land back to the native prairie it once was and bringing natural carbon capture to the forefront. Tuesday night's discussion included the benefits of reintroducing native prairies, as well as issues that urban, migrant and indigenous communities would face should these proposed pipelines become reality. "Prairies, if they are healthy, sequester so much of the carbon down in the soils, unlike forests out west that are burning all the time," said speaker and Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Briar Cliff University David Hoferer. "The problem with that is then the carbon of the tress is going right back into the air. But, prairies sequester down into their roots and then exchange the carbon with the microbes in the soil so it all stays in the soil." This proposal looks to make wetlands and steep slopes in Iowa into prairie land, not removing farmland. For the indigenous communities, pipeline creation is harmful on a sacred level. "For us, the sacred spaces don't just exist on one plane. They go to the center of the earth all the way out to the universe," said Sikowis Nobiss, Executive Director of the Great Plains Action Society. "Those are smart stories that can be applied today, because they have no idea what is going to happen when they put this into the ground. There is very little data available about what is going to happen." A legal battle over a proposed carbon capture pipeline got underway Friday in Woodbury County. Last week, we introduced you to Vicki Hulse as she prepared for a court battle to keep pipeline surveyors off of her farmland. Navigator wants to put its carbon capture pipeline through three of Hulse's four parcels of land outside of Moville near the Woodbury/Plymouth County line. READ MORE: "I knew that I was going to fight this": Woodbury Co. woman fights against CO2 pipeline Friday in Woodbury County District Court, Navigator presented its case for a temporary injunction to allow their team on her property regardless of Hulse's agreement to it or not. Navigator claims they have done everything required by law to access the property with or without Hulse's permission. Navigator says these surveys take less than two hours to complete and do no harm to the property, but Hulse's refusal is causing great harm to their company. "We need to complete these surveys because we have to figure out our route. Our petition to the Iowa Utilities Board is being planned to be filed in the next month or so and we need to complete these activities," said Brian Rickert, who is representing Navigator. "The harm to Navigator is great because it slows our project down and it slows our ability to do the surveys we need, especially the ones that are weather dependent. You can't do searches for things that are on the ground when the ground is covered in snow or ice. We need to get out there and we need to do these now, but for the fact that the defendant is stopping that, we would have had these done already." Navigator, which wants to build a $3 billion, 1,300-mile pipeline across 5 midwest states, claims this is nothing more than a tactic for Hulse and the other landowners who are keeping surveyors off of their land. For Hulse's team, this legal battle is not just a fight for the Hulse farm but for property rights for all Iowans. "It's a fight for anyone who cares about property rights," said Brian Jorde, part of the law team representing Hulse. "And we are fighting for all future generations of Iowa. And we need to make sure that all unconstitutional statutes that take away property rights are voided, and changed and abolished." Hulse's team argued in court that because their client did not pick up the registered letter sent by Navigator notifying her of the intent to survey the property, the company failed to serve notice which is required by law, instead saying the company can do the survey via an easement. They also argue that Iowa law states that pipeline companies must compensate landowners for rights of entry to their property. Jorde told Siouxland News after the hearing that this is a very emotional time for his client, whose husband is in a veterans home in Iowa and doesn't know about this legal battle over their property that his wife currently facing. Hulse was not in court Friday for the hearing. This hearing was over Navigator's lawsuit to gain access to the Hulse property, not Hulse's countersuit against Navigator which is challenging Iowa laws that permit the right of entry for companies to private land for things like surveys. That hearing will come at a later date. Currently, Hulse is asking for an injunction to keep Navigator off of the property until that constitutionality case has been decided. District Judge Roger Sailer says he will issue his ruling on Navigator's case by the end of next week. Navigator has filed similar lawsuits against three other Iowa landowners in Clay and Butler counties who have also denied surveyors access to their property, two of those landowners have also filed similar constitutional challenges like Hulse's in Iowa court. SEE THE VIDEO It's a beautiful piece of farmland in Woodbury County and sits along the Plymouth County line and like many Iowa farms, it's a family heirloom. "We love this farm. It's 151 acres. It has been in his family for many, many years. And our farm is five years shy of being a century farm." And now Vicki Hulse of Moville, Iowa is fighting to keep her and her husband's land out of the hands of a carbon capture pipeline. "We have worked hard to pay for our land," Hulse told me during an interview at the Siouxland News studios. "We bought the farm from his dad's estate, and he worked two jobs. I work two jobs to pay for this farm. And we have two children that we want to hand the farm down to. And I'm fighting against eminent domain for private gain." According to Cornell Law School, eminent domain refers to the power of the government to take private property and convert it into public use. Because of this, Heartland Greenway's Navigator CO2 pipeline has sent surveyors to each property where their pipeline will be. Hulse has twice refused to let them enter. "I did not sign the letter for the easement. I did not sign anything," she said. "I knew that I was going to fight this." This fight is personal for Hulse, not just because this pipeline would run through three of her four parcels of land, but because her husband William can't fight alongside her. "My husband is a Vietnam veteran. He was exposed to Agent Orange and he's in the Iowa veterans home in Marshalltown," she explained, "and I am his voice and I am doing exactly what I feel he would want me to do fighting for your land, fight for our land. He fought for our country and I am fighting for our land." And fighting she is. Hulse has twice denied surveyors access to her farmland. In response, Navigator is suing Hulse to gain access citing eminent domain. She has filed a countersuit seeking an injunction of her own. "They're a private company," she explained. "And so no private company should have the right to be able to claim eminent domain." The Hulse's farmland is also part of the state's Conservation Reserve Program and this pipeline she says would harm everything that makes it beautiful. "The farmland is in the (Conservation Reserve Program), It's got birds and butterflies and deer and wildlife. And that's just part of it, you know, part of its crops. But you go out there and you just see all the wildlife and we want to leave the land better than we got it," she said. "And so to see a pipeline come through would just be heartbreaking." And because of her husband's health, she's fighting alone. "I haven't even explained this to my husband. He has dementia," she said as she teared up. "I don't think he would even grasp any of this. And so I'm trying to make all these decisions." Her son and daughter are also fighting by her side as they will one day take over the farm. There are over 130 other landowners also fighting against the Navigator Pipeline, plus the two other proposed pipelines, Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions, that would run through Iowa. But Hulse is one of the few taking legal action against them now. "Do you think there are any positives to this pipeline proposal? Big or small?" I asked her. "No, no, there's no nothing. I can't think of a thing," she said passionately, "Can you?" Hulse says this pipeline, should it go online, would impact not just the landowners whose property it runs through but the towns and communities nearby. "I just want to make people aware. There are so many people that I talked to that they say well, that CO2 in the air, you're breathing it, but no, it is not the CO2 that is in your diet coke. It's not the CO2 that's in the canisters," she said. "This is 2,000 pounds of pressure in an eight-inch pipe that is liquefied. And if there is a leak of the earth an explosion, it is so dangerous." She says this fight isn't just hers or even the landowners who have been targeted by Navigator and these other pipelines, but it's Iowa's fight. "I wish you knew that if you let this pipeline go through and let them claim eminent domain for private gain," she said. "That is just a stepping stone for the first company to do that. That it will far reach anything else to happen for any other company to keep doing this? On and on and on. I mean, where would it stop?" Hulse and the others who oppose the Navigator and the other two proposed CO2 pipelines have reached out to state leaders, going as far as marching in front of the Iowa Capitol building and sending meeting requests to Governor Reynolds with no response. She says getting more Iowans involved in the fight against these pipelines is key to stopping them, and getting involved is easy. "Do exactly what we're doing, become more aware. Just keep talking to your neighbors and fight the good fight." Because this land... is Iowa. "There's only so much land and that if you keep destroying the land, putting hazardous things in the land and putting these hazardous pipelines in, there's not going to be more land. This is it," she said. "We have to preserve our land."What would your husband say if he could fight this fight with you?" I asked. "He would be... He would be more vocal than I would be. He would be knocking on doors. He would be calling his legislators," she said of her husband. "And he had a big voice." And now Vicki is that voice. For her husband and so many others in this fight against the pipelines. SEE THE VIDEO |
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