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Letter to the Editor: Urge opposition to carbon dioxide pipeline project

By George Cummins, Charles City

In a recent Charles City Press (May 6) were two articles with considerable implications for the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) hazardous CO2 pipeline.

One article described the Charles City Area Development Corp.’s expanded marketing efforts for the Avenue of the Saints Development Site on the south edge of Charles City next to the interstate.

The 75-acre site is within the city limits and was purchased with public funds at a premium price because of its development potential.  The site is state-certified, ready for development and strategically located with access to the interstate highway connecting St. Louis and St. Paul.

The proposed route of the SCS pipeline crosses the Avenue of the Saints site, which will limit the location of access roads, utilities, parking lots and structures. Its attractiveness and potential as a development site is greatly reduced.

There are also two private properties near Charles City with development potential along the proposed pipeline route. The proximity of nearby businesses, motels, the Floyd County Memorial Hospital and private residences to the pipeline raises serious safety concerns.

CO2 is a colorless, odorless gas that is heavier than air and spreads quickly on the ground from a leak or a rupture. It is an asphyxiant that displaces oxygen.

At low levels CO2 acts as an intoxicant producing shortness of breath and a confused, drunken-like state. At higher levels CO2 can cause unconsciousness, coma and death. Combustion engines, deprived of oxygen, will stall.

The second article was on the reduction of full-time professional firefighters in Charles City and the increasing dependence on volunteers.

Previous CO2 accidents have shown a lack of appropriate equipment, training and preparedness among local police, firefighters, first responders and hospital staff. Smaller rural communities along the proposed pipeline route are totally dependent on volunteers and further away from emergency care facilities.

SCS submitted a request in January 2022 to the Iowa Utilities Board to grant eminent domain so private and public lands can be taken for their pipeline construction and operation.

Eminent domain has been used in the past only for public projects and not for-profit companies like SCS. A growing number of landowners, county supervisor groups, city councils, and local organizations have submitted objections, ordnances, and petitions to the Iowa Utilities Board opposing the pipeline.

It would be appropriate for the Charles City Area Development Corp., the City Council, the Floyd County Supervisors, the CC Chamber of Commerce, the Floyd County Memorial Hospital and even taxpayers to share their concerns with the IUB at https://iub.iowa.gov/ or Iowa Utilities Board, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, 50319-0069.

 

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