North Dakota regulators today rejected a route permit for a regional carbon dioxide pipeline that has been opposed by landowners and public officials in several states including Iowa and South Dakota.
The unanimous vote by the three-member Public Service Commission comes after five public hearings over the course of four months earlier this year ( PSC Denies Siting Permit for Summit Carbon Pipeline Project). PSC Chair Randy Christmann said that Summit Carbon Solutions failed to show that the location, construction, operation and maintenance would produce minimal adverse effects on the environment and on the citizens of North Dakota.
At that meeting, large numbers of people spoke out against Summit's $4.5 billion Midwest Carbon Express project. The pipeline would run through Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. In Iowa, Summit wants to lay more than 700 miles of pipe to move the greenhouse gas to North Dakota for underground sequestration.
Summit in a statement said it "respects the decision by the North Dakota Public Service Commission, and we will revisit our proposal and reapply for our permit." The company initially applied in October 2022.
Nearly 80% of Iowa motorcyclists killed in 2022 were not wearing a helmet, according to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation. As hundreds of thousands of bikers flock to Sturgis, South Dakota this weekend, the Iowa State Patrol urges Iowans to stay on the road. Iowa is one of three states with no motorcycle helmet law.
Seventy-eight percent of motorcyclists killed in 2022 were not wearing a helmet, a 3% increase from 2021, and a 10% increase from 2020.
The number of fatalities, 49, was down from 2021, when 68 motorcyclists died.
Thirty-two bikers have been killed on Iowa roads so far in 2023, putting Iowa on track to see more motorcycle fatalities than in 2022.
