Navigator Carbon Pipeline Project Halted

The future of a proposed carbon pipeline project in north/northeast Iowa is in doubt after the company stopped its construction permit application in Illinois, the destination for sequestration of its captured carbon dioxide.

Navigator CO2 Ventures on Tuesday (10.10) moved to withdraw its pipeline permit application in Illinois, effectively halting its project. The motion comes about a week before the Illinois Commerce Commission was to hold an evidentiary hearing for the application.

The company’s proposed 1,350-mile pipeline system suffered a setback in South Dakota in September when state regulators denied Navigator a construction permit. The company has  since asked to suspend its permit process in Iowa. At the time, Navigator indicated it would wait for a ruling on its permit in Illinois, which was expected by the end of February 2024.

In a prepared statement, Navigator said they are “taking time to reassess the route and application.”

Navigator had sought to build its Heartland Greenway carbon pipeline through several counties in north central and northeast Iowa, including a branch that would start with the Valero Renewables ethanol plant west of Charles City, then go south through Floyd County into Butler County, connecting with the Poet Bioprocessing ethanol plant near Shell Rock. Another branch would come into the Poet plant from the east through Bremer, Fayette, Buchanan, and Delaware counties.