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South Dakota's vote on regulating pipelines could set a precedent for other states

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

In coming years, the U.S. is expected to be increasingly crisscrossed by pipelines carrying carbon dioxide, which advocates say could play a big role in controlling harmful emissions. South Dakota offers a look at the possible backlash to those pipelines as a new pipeline law could be repealed by voters next month. South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Lee Strubinger reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRACTOR)

LEE STRUBINGER, BYLINE: Aaron Johnson's 1994 International Harvester tractor digs up the soil behind it.

AARON JOHNSON: And so now we're chisel plowing.

STRUBINGER: There's already an oil pipeline under Johnson's certified organic field in rural Lake County, South Dakota. Now a carbon dioxide sequestration company, Summit Carbon Solutions, wants to run a pipeline that he worries could leak and destroy his organic field or even harm his family. He notes that one ruptured a few years ago in Mississippi, hospitalizing people.

JOHNSON: I want to be able to do what I want to do on my side of the fence. You do what you want to do on your side of the fence. Let's keep it that way. Good fences do make good neighbors, and a proposed pipeline crosses any and all fences.

STRUBINGER: At 2,500 miles long, the pipeline would carry liquefied carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants across the Midwest to North Dakota for underground storage. It's a possible way of reducing emissions that lead to climate change and can help win federal tax credits. But the state's utility regulator denied permits for the project based on county ordinances. Then the state legislature wrote a new law requiring counties to prove their pipeline ordinances are reasonable. Critics say it weakens local control and property rights. It was unpopular enough that several lawmakers who voted for it lost in the primaries. And activists got a proposal on the ballot to repeal the law.

JIM ESCHENBAUM: It's deceitful legislation. It's a sellout to corporate America.

STRUBINGER: Jim Eschenbaum is leading the effort to overturn the law. He's a retired farmer and county commissioner in Hand County. He says companies really want carbon dioxide pipelines because they can be helpful in fracking, which he doesn't oppose, but says companies should acknowledge. But some defend the law.

ROGER CHASE: In any good legislation, nobody's particularly happy with how things turn out.

STRUBINGER: That's Republican state Representative Roger Chase. He says the law lets counties charge companies fees that can lower property taxes. It also holds pipeline companies liable for damages and requires them to release information about ruptures. Chase says if voters repeal the law, called Referred Law 21, it'll actually benefit pipeline companies.

CHASE: Because they're still going to have the ability to get permitted. And if they do get permitted and we repeal Senate Bill 201, or Referred Law 21, then all of that goes away.

STRUBINGER: Summit Carbon Solutions says it supports the law, as do several groups representing corn growers. Corn's used in making ethanol.

MARTIN LOCKMAN: There are multiple tensions going on here.

STRUBINGER: That's Martin Lockman, a climate law fellow with New York's Columbia Law School. He says the pipeline debate in South Dakota is a preview of a national debate for the next 25 years. There are already thousands of miles of these pipelines. Many times more are expected. He says communities are skeptical. They don't see how they benefit and worry about the risks, and there are other issues, like their effectiveness against climate change.

LOCKMAN: And all of these can't be taken individually. People who are deciding how to vote on this issue will have to grapple with all of these.

STRUBINGER: Regardless of the vote on Election Day, Summit Carbon Solutions officials say they intend to reapply for pipeline permits in South Dakota.

For NPR News, I'm Lee Strubinger in Lake County, South Dakota.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Lee Strubinger