The Mitchell County Board of Supervisors has sent a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) objecting to the use of eminent domain for the proposed Summit Carbon Pipeline that would pass through their county.Â
The board believes that each landowner, like Deb Freeman, should have the right to decide whether to have the pipeline on their property. Â
Lisa Ritzert of San Antonio, Texas, who owns land in Mitchell County, urged the supervisors to fill the gap after efforts to regulate the pipeline failed in the state legislature.
Supervisor Jim Wherry says the corn industry in Mitchell County supports the pipeline.
Wherry says state law prohibits county officials from having any say about the pipeline project and all authority rests with the IUB.
The IUB has not indicated when they’ll make a decision on Summit’s construction permit and whether they’ll grant pipeline developers authority to seize land from unwilling property owners.
Sections of the proposed carbon pipeline would also cross Floyd, Chickasaw, Cerro Gordo, Butler, Bremer, Franklin and Fayette counties among others.
