Commissioners learn how Iowa landowners are battling a proposed carbon-capture pipeline

A proposed carbon-capture pipeline, scheduled to cross Antelope and Holt counties, is an example of "environmentalism gone amok," according to an Iowa resident who addressed Antelope County Commissioners, May 9.

Tammy Kobza, a Nebraska native who serves as a field representative for The John Birch Society, said Nebraskans can learn a lot about landowner rights and eminent domain by watching their eastern neighbors battle Summit Carbon Solutions. The Iowa-based company seeks to construct a 2,000-mile pipeline, traversing four states, to capture carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol and other industrial agriculture plants, liquify it under pressure and push it through the pipeline to North Dakota, where it will be permanently sequestered at least one mile underground.

In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency classified carbon-dioxide emissions as a hazard to human health. While CO2 is considered the "gas of life" - humans exhale it, plants inhale it - the increase in concentration of the gas led the agency to declare it a pollutant.

Kobza outlined an explosion of a carbon-capture pipeline near Sartartia, Mississippi.

According to Kobza, water seeped into the pipeline along weakened welds, creating carbonic acid.

"It ripped the pipe open like a zipper," she said.

Could an explosion like that happen in Nebraska or Iowa?

"That's why Iowans are fighting this," she said. "When it ruptures, it consumes air. You have four to 15 minutes to leave, depending where you live along the route."

In Iowa, there's a 28-mile distance between shutoff valves.

"That's 2,400 welds," Kobza said.

The biggest concern, though, is property rights.

Kobza said language in easements proffered by Summit Carbon allows the company to go anywhere on the land.

"Summit doesn't want farmers farming over the land because of possible ruptures," she said. "Landowners can't build anythiing on the land for perpetuity. But, SCS can sell the easement to anyone, even foreign countries."

That's why county governments need to protect their citizens, according to Kobza.

"This is a private company that's going to make a tremendous private gain. This is why eminent domain doesn't apply in this battle," she said.

In Iowa, county officials are beefing up zoning regulations, primarily setback distances.

"We're winning in the courts," she said.

Commissioner Neil Williby asked what setbacks have been established in Iowa.

Kobza said it varies by county.

Antelope County Zoning Administrator Megan Wingate said Antelope County is currently updating its regulations to include carbon pipelines.

Commissioner Keith Heithoff asked Kobza if she had a background in chemistry.

"Where's the exchangable hydrogen to make it explosive?" he asked.

"I've had scientists who have told me this," Kobza responded.

"Do some fact checking on your stuff," Heithoff said. "How does water come in (to the pipeline)?"

Kobza explained that water seeped through weakened welds.

"How much water can get into a pipeline under 1,200 pounds per square inch?" Heithoff said.

According to Kobza, a driving force for the pipelne is for its use in enhanced oil recovery.

"Plus, there are the 45Q and 45Z tax credits. The owners are going to make billions and we're going to be taxed for it. It's a scam," she said.

Kobza and Doug Nelson, a Wayne farmer and biologist spoke to a crowd of approximately 40 individuals, May 9, in Brunswick.

Landowner rights and environmental aspects of the proposed pipeline were discussed.