Wolf Carbon Solutions presents information on pipeline to Scott Co. residents

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - The Iowa Utilities Board and Wolf Carbon Solutions held a public meeting at the River Center, to discuss a carbon capture pipeline that would run through parts of the Quad Cities Area on Tuesday.

The route has changed since Aug. 31. the last time the IUB and Wolf were in town to talk about the pipeline. The company now excludes Johnson county. They also notified more landowners about their plans.

Nick Noppinger, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development said Wolf is still learning about the process.

“We actually have our own CO2 pipeline up north and out in Alberta, (Canada),” Noppinger said. “We have a lot of a learning curve already, in terms of environmental and safety procedures. We’re continuing to learn that and the learnings that we have from those processes, we’re relaying to the public.”

The proposed pipeline will transport liquefied Carbon Dioxide emissions from ADM’s ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton to facilities in Decatur, Illinois.

Many residents in the proposed path of the pipeline shared concerns about safety.

“Do you have a general game plan for … distance that you stay away from critical facilities like schools or a nursing home, hospital that kind of things?” asked one Eldridge resident.

In response to the question, Matt Kindred with KC Harvey Environmental, a Wolf consultant, said that’s part of the reason the route changed.

“We widened the corridor so that we can approach more people in a wider swath so that there’s more opportunities to manage these pinch points and get as much distance as we can from the population centers,” Kindred said.

The company mentioned it is still looking into mitigations and environmental impacts if something does go wrong.

Eminent domain was another concern among residents. According to Wolf officials, it has never used eminent domain as a method of gaining easements, and its project leaders haven’t used it in the length of their careers.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Wolf Carbon Solutions has to wait 30 days to submit permit requests, it then plans to start negotiations with landowners in 2023.

It also plans to begin a similar process with the Illinois Commerce Commission, the equivalent to the Iowa Utilities Board, in early 2023.

Copyright 2022 KWQC. All rights reserved.