Public meetings planned for pipeline

FAIRFIELD – Members of the public are invited to attend informational meetings Thursday about a proposed carbon capture pipeline that could run through Iowa, including Jefferson and Van Buren counties.

Navigator Heartland Greenway has proposed building a 1,300-mile pipeline through five states, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota. It would cross 36 counties in Iowa from the northwest corner to the southeast corner. The pipeline will carry pressurized carbon dioxide from ethanol and fertilizer plants, turn the gas into a liquid, and put it underground in a sequestration site in western Illinois.

The Iowa Utilities Board is hosting public meetings in all 36 counties to educate the public about this proposal.

The meetings for Jefferson and Van Buren counties will be Thursday, Dec. 9, with the Van Buren meeting first at noon at the Bonaparte Opera House, with the meeting in Jefferson County at 6 p.m. at the Walton Club in Fairfield.

The Navigator project is one of two carbon capture pipelines proposed for Iowa. The other, by Summit Carbon Solutions, is a 2,000-mile pipeline through western and north-central Iowa.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com