(Pierre, SD) — Tensions between carbon pipeline companies and South Dakota private landowners continue to grow.
Landowners rallied at the State Capitol Thursday, raising their voices for reformation of eminent domain laws and calling on Governor Noem to take their side. About a dozen state legislators in favor of holding a special session over future carbon pipelines came to show their support. Rally organizers also announced they would submit more than two-thousand signed petitions to Noem’s office to spark the special session.
Summit Carbon Solutions, the main company receiving pushback, has not yet acquired land through eminent domain, but the company did initiate the first step of the process by filing more than 80 lawsuits against landowners in April.
Summit Carbon Solutions released a statement Thursday evening: “The vast majority of landowners in South Dakota and across the Midwest support projects like Summit Carbon Solutions and want to see these critical agricultural investments move forward. Currently, more than 70 percent of the landowners along Summit’s proposed route in South Dakota have already signed voluntary easement agreements with us. This level of support shows that landowners support Summit’s mission to partner with ethanol plants to make them more profitable by opening new markets not available to them today. This will make farmers more profitable, driving economic growth and the ag economy in South Dakota.”
Photos and contributing coverage from Jody Heemstra, DRG News, Pierre, SD
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