Bismarck, North Dakota – Summit Carbon Solutions’ Petition for Reconsideration has been authorized by the North Dakota Public Service Commission. The state agency decided to reconsider Friday by a 2-1 decision, with Commissioner Sheri Haugen-Hoffart voting against it.
After the PSC rejected a siting permit for the Midwest Carbon Express CO2 Pipeline Project in early August, the business filed the petition. In its petition, Summit has asked for the chance to provide pertinent information in a hearing or hearings in order to establish on the record that it has addressed or will resolve the flaws mentioned in the PSC’s order to refuse the permit dated August 4, 2023. In accordance with Section 69-02-06-02 of the North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC), the business has the opportunity to request reconsideration. A “just, quick, and inexpensive determination of the issues presented” is taken into account in administrative code as well.
That was taken into account in Friday’s ruling because, had the reconsideration request been denied, the company would have had to reapply and begin the permitting procedure from scratch, which would have meant erasing all previous information from the record. This document contains data obtained at five different public hearings that were held throughout the state and featured in-depth evidence from the company, intervenors, and the general public. Any information pertaining to a hearing or hearings and the topics that will be covered during that procedure will be determined by the Commission at a later time.
In October 2022, SCS Carbon Transport LLC submitted a proposal to build 320 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline in North Dakota. Parts of the counties of Burleigh, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Logan, McIntosh, Morton, Oliver, Richland, and Sargent would be traversed by the pipeline’s proposed path. Following that, the CO2 would be pumped into the pore space for long-term sequestration.
“We’ve listened to and learned from the concerns raised by the North Dakota Public Service Commission,” said Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank. “Subsequently, we rerouted around Bismarck, made adjustments to drill or bypass game management and geo-hazard areas, and collaborated with the State Historic Preservation Office to record the findings of cultural surveys.”
