Pipelines

• Pipeline Victories

Water Quality

• Update on Supreme Beef! 

• State Revolving Funds & Clean Water

Protecting the Environment

• Boards & Commissions Review Committee Falls Short

• Hannah Hayes, Sierra Club National Award Winner

Plus

• Join us for interesting and informative Lunch and Learns

• Contribute to the Iowa Chapter

• Volunteer for the Iowa Chapter

• Calendar of events

• To see the archive of previous Iowa Chapter newsletters

• To see the White Pine Needle newsletter

Pipeline Victories & Water!

The past two months have been a whirlwind.  Our efforts to organize a broad based coalition of everyday people opposed to the carbon pipelines is working.  We’re standing stronger together.

South Dakota voted no on Navigator and Summit’s applications, two of Summit’s injection wells in North Dakota were denied, North Dakota denied Summit’s initial pipeline application, and it’s being reported that Navigator is dropping part of its route in South Dakota and Iowa!!  

This is a huge victory for our coalition and a major setback for carbon pipelines.

But the work is not over . We have to keep organizing against the carbon pipelines.  Powerful companies like Summit and Navigator don’t give up easily - and neither do we.  

Please support our work so we can keep up our fight against the carbon pipelines!

North Dakota Victories:

On August 4, for the first time in North Dakota history, the Public Service Commission (PSC) denied Summit’s initial pipeline route.  The PSC said Summit failed to meet the burden of proof and failed to reroute around Bismarck, landowners, waterfowl areas and more.  Summit has rerouted, made some changes and requested the PSC reconsider their application.  The PSC will reconsider Summit’s application and make another decision sometime in the future.  

In early September, Oliver County delivered another blow to Summit.  The Oliver County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-0 to recommend denial of two of Summit’s injection well permits.  This forced Summit to withdraw the requests rather than have another denial on their record.  Summit has more injection well permits pending in Mercer County and landowners in the area expect the same outcome as Oliver County.  

South Dakota Victories:

In a shocking twist on September 6, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) denied Navigator’s pipeline route and took it a step further by upholding county ordinances.  Counties across the midwest have been passing County Zoning Ordinances with setbacks for how far the proposed route can be from homes, schools, city limits, etc.  Summit and Navigator have been fighting county ordinances in multiple states, claiming ordinances are preempted by the Federal government. We’re now hearing reports in the media that Navigator is dropping part of the South Dakota and Iowa routes.  Navigator says these portions of their route are on hold so we have to keep our guard up. 

Just last week, the PUC denied Summit’s route as well because it did not comply with the county ordinances.  This was a shocker as the denial came just minutes before Summit’s PUC hearing began.  

These victories didn’t happen on their own.  We’ve spent two years organizing, attending meetings, testifying, lobbying, writing, calling and more.  And we have to keep it up in order to stop the carbon pipelines.  

Carbon Pipelines want our land, our money and……our WATER!!!

Stopping the carbon pipelines is getting even more important as we learn more about how much water is needed for the capture side of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). 

Iowa has limited groundwater resources and those resources need to be used wisely to ensure safe drinking water can be provided to communities across the state for as long as people live in Iowa.  Iowa is expected to experience more drought conditions, like the drought we are in right now, due to climate changes.  Without adequate recharging, Iowa’s aquifers and ability to provide safe drinking water is threatened.

Summit created new LLCs for water withdrawal requests.  Summit's Jimmy Powell testified that “As you increase the pressure on the CO2 to reach the dense phase, that product heats up. And so we’ll have a cooling system that circulates through that compression cycle that keeps the product cooler, and then we’ll dehydrate that in the later stages of compression. We’ll pull the water out of the stream in the later stages of compression.” 

One of the water requests, Lawler SCS Capture LLC,  was already approved by DNR to withdraw 55 million gallons of water per year (MGY) on May 29, 2023. 

A second permit has been requested by Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC for 27.6 MGY.  Comments can be submitted to Senior Environmental Engineer Michael Anderson at Michael.Anderson@dnr.iowa.gov by October 4, 2023.  Sierra Club will be submitting comments.  We will share those with you as soon as they are done.  

A Water Use Permit is required of any person or entity that withdraws at least 25,000 gallons in a 24-hour period during any calendar year.

We believe the following list of LLCs are all related to current and future water withdrawal requests.  Nancy Dugan wrote another article in the Bleeding Heartland with an analysis showing Summit's total water usage could be more than 478,296,000 gallons per year.  And that doesn’t count water usage if Navigator and Wolf are approved!

Lawler SCS Capture, LLC
Goldfield SCS Capture LLC
Galva SCS Capture LLC
Grand Junction SCS Capture LLC
Marcus SCS Capture LLC
Mason City SCS Capture LLC
Merrill SCS Capture LLC
Nevada SCS Capture LLC
Saint Ansgar SCS Capture LLC
Shenandoah SCS Capture LLC
Sioux Center SCS Capture LLC
Steamboat Rock SCS Capture LLC
Superior SCS Capture LLC

Submit your comments to the DNR today!  Email Michael.Anderson@dnr.iowa.gov to tell DNR:

1. Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC request should be denied.

Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC filed a request for 27.6 million gallons of water per year from the Mississippian Limestone Aquifer.  We think this is a poor use of our water resources.   

The Goldfield SCS Capture, LLC request takes a public resource and gives it to a private entity for private gain.  This does not meet Iowa Code §455B.262(2) & (3) which states public waters are to be put to “maximum” beneficial use in the interest of Iowans and managed as sustainable resources to protect the uses into the future.

2. DNR should consider the water withdrawal requests from Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf Carbon Solutions as a cumulative request. We request a full survey of wells within a 2 mile radius to determine the impact of a water withdrawal on existing wells.  

Piecemeal requests from carbon pipeline companies do a disservice to Iowans as it is important to look at the projects as a whole, and even as an industry as a whole.  Summit is proposing to connect to 13 ethanol plants, Navigator to 20 ethanol plants and Wolf to 2 ethanol plants in Iowa alone.  We must examine these projects cumulatively as an industry to understand the true impacts of allowing CCS to utilize public water resources.

3. DNR should evaluate Iowa’s water resource priorities and determine that water for carbon capture and transport is not a good long term use of our groundwater or in the public’s interest.

In order to protect Iowa’s water resources for long-term availability as the Code requires, IDNR’s Water Allocation Program is guided by the following principles: all waters are considered public wealth and subject to the control by the state, public waters are to be put to (maximum) beneficial use in the interests of Iowans, and waters are to be managed as sustainable resources thereby protecting beneficial uses into the future.

The use of public waters for private companies that serve no beneficial purpose is wrong.  DNR should determine that Carbon Capture and Storage is not a beneficial use of public water.

Boards & Commissions Review Committee Falls Short

The Sierra Club does a significant amount of work before boards and commissions, such as the Natural Resources Commission and the Environmental Protection Commission.  The state of Iowa has over 250 boards and commissions.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Legislature created a Boards and Commissions Review Committee and chartered them with the task of reviewing all the state boards and commissions and making recommendations on the future existence of the body.  A report to the legislature and governor is due September 30. 

The Review Committee consists of six voting members - all appointed by the governor - four who are members of the governor’s staff, one who works for the attorney general, and one member of the public (who is also the only female on the Review Committee).  At the first meeting of the Review Committee, two-member subcommittees were assigned a list of boards and commissions that they were to review.  The reason only two members were assigned to each sub-committee was to avoid the requirements of the open meetings law.

Throughout the summer, the Review Committee worked in relative secrecy.  August 29, the Review Committee met and released their general findings and recommendations.  Plus each board or commission was flagged with the simple indication to “Continue (as is)”, “Eliminate”, “Consolidate/Merge” and “Reorganize/Other Changes”.  No details were provided to justify the recommendations or what those recommendations actually mean. 

The Review Committee held a public comment session on September 6.  For over two hours, the public let the Review Committee know what they thought.  It is telling that very few commenters agreed with the recommendations. 

Among the issues the public told the Review Committee are:

• It is troubling that the Review Committee is recommending eliminating the law that establishes gender balance on boards.  That law was passed because government boards and commissions were mostly comprised of men.  A diversity of voices makes decisions and recommendations stronger.  Having a seat at the table matters when decisions are being made. 

• During the public comment session, members of boards and commissions that were facing elimination, consolidation, or reorganization testified that they and their board had not been asked for their input into the decision.  That clearly shows that the members of the Review Committee did not dig into the function and need for the board.  Each board and commission established by Iowa Code had a purpose. It would make sense to provide a thorough review of each board, in public view and with input from Iowans, including the community affected by the board’s actions, the government agency, and even the board itself. 

• During the public comment period, members of some of the boards indicated that the board was required by federal law or interstate compact.  Those laws or compacts need to be reviewed before any recommendation can be made with respect to changes to the board or its elimination.  It is obvious that the Review Committee did not do that.

• The recommendations for “Consolidate/Merge” and “Reorganize/Other Changes” need explanation to understand what the board’s future will be, what entity it will be merged with and what functions need to be changed.  Without that clarity, there is no reason or justification for changing a board’s function.   The public certainly cannot evaluate whether the change is necessary or created a problem without the details.

• For boards and commissions that are recommended to be eliminated, there is no discussion of how the functions of the board will be handled by the agency in the future if a board is currently meeting and serving.

• There is no indication of what boards will be merged with each other. With each consolidation or merger, there are considerations about how large the merged board will be, how the members will be selected for the merged board and whether the members must meet any criteria in order to serve on the board, how the functions will be merged, and a host of other questions.  None of those questions are addressed.

• Committee members didn't clarify which boards and commissions are meeting excessively when they have no business. With online meeting tools, it is much easier to meet on a regular basis, with a short agenda, than when all meetings were in-person. Random convening of meetings would make it more difficult for members of the public to be involved, know when the meetings will be held, and stay on top of the issues. Plus, it could lead to matters not being addressed in a timely manner.

• There was no indication of which individual boards are currently not functioning or are not effective.  Before we take away the protection and function these boards provide, we need some proof they are not doing their job. If they are not doing their job, then this review committee should make recommendations for changes – funding, staffing, better guidance and support from the staff. If some board needs some clarification of duties, it makes sense to makes changes to that board’s operation.

Although this may seem like a wonky exercise, it is obvious that the recommendations will have far-reaching impacts on everyday Iowans and how state government is able to respond to the problems and issues that we are facing, such as clean water, healthy air, and government regulations that work for all of us.  That is, if the legislature acts on the recommendations. 

Iowa has had a long history of using boards and commissions to advise and guide how our government functions. The state of Iowa benefits from having members of the public serving on the boards and offering their expertise, often without compensation

The recommendations appear to reduce and restrict the public access and input in the decision-making process.  It also is an effort to reduce public oversight in how our agencies are functioning.  These recommendations appear to consolidate power within the governor’s office, where decisions are made behind closed doors with as little public input as possible and where the only people who have input are the lobbyists and friends of the governor. 

The work of this committee was unsatisfactory.  The legislature should not implement the recommendations of the Boards and Commissions Review Committee. 

What you can do

Let your state legislators know that the Boards and Commissions Review Committee failed to adequately perform their review of the state’s boards and commissions and ask that the legislators not implement the changes recommended by the Review Committee. 

To look up your senate member, see www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/senate

To look up your house member, see www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/house

To find your legislators, see www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/find

Update on Supreme Beef! 

Supreme Beef withdrew its latest nutrient management plan.  They are expected to submit a revised nutrient management plan which will be followed by a public comment period.  In the meantime, Supreme Beef has been ordered by the Department of Natural Resources that they cannot empty any of their manure containment structures until they have an approved nutrient management plan.

Supreme Beef LLC is 11,600-head beef cattle feeding operation in Clayton County.  Supreme Beef sits near the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek, one of the most treasured trout streams in Iowa.  It is also designated as an Outstanding Iowa Water.  The nutrient management plan was deeply flawed and would have put the trout stream at great risk of being polluted by manure.

Below is an aerial view of the Supreme Beef confinement operation.

Hannah Hayes, Sierra Club National Award Winner

Hannah Hayes, from Des Moines, was awarded Sierra Club's Emerging Changemaker Award.  Hannah has urged business leaders and Iowa legislators to take climate change seriously.

This award recognizes young Sierra Club volunteers who represent the next generation of environmental leaders and includes a $500 prize.  

The awards were presented in Chicago Sept. 9 in conjunction with the Sierra Club’s 2023 Annual Meeting.

State Revolving Funds & Clean Water

By Debbie Neustadt, Sierra Club member from Des Moines and clean water activist

The aim of the Clean Water Act is to have our water free from pollution; to do this water must be fishable and swimmable. To that end sewage treatment facilities are built, and stormwater is managed.

To have safe drinking water systems, water is collected from the source, processed to meet safe drinking water standards, and delivered to users. To deliver safe drinking water utilities test water and distribute it with pumps pipelines, storage tanks, and service lines.

Sewage treatment includes collecting water from homes and businesses, treating it to standards set in their permit and discharging it back into rivers, lakes, or the ocean. It also includes pumps and pipes.

Stormwater infrastructure collects rainfall and conveys it into the nearest waterway, typically without treatment. It includes storm drains, stormwater pipes, storm sewer outfalls, and green storm-water infrastructure.

States receive a capitalization grant with funds made available by the Environmental Protection Agency.  These funds are called State Revolving Fund (SRF). There is a Clean Water SRF and a Drinking Water SRF. The funds are created by federal authorization and appropriations. These federal funds provide the basis for the state to increase the amount of money in each SRF through a variety of financial instruments. The fund can be increased with state contributions, bonds, and the repayment of loans.  The SRF must be kept in a dedicated fund from which low-or-no interest loans are made to utilities that meet the criteria of the program. Repayments of principal and interest are received back into the fund and available for future lending, thus the term “revolving fund.”

States, by law, must have a process that involves setting criteria and asking for applications, with utilities applying for funds.  The process includes the state publishing its intended use plan (IUP) which includes the entities that will be receiving funds, followed by asking for public comment.   Iowa submits the plan to the Environmental Protection Commission. As projects are completed, entities will receive funds.

Communities across the state took advantage of these funds in fiscal year 2023.

To see a list of the projects funded by the Clean Water State Revolving Fund

To see a list of the projects funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund

There are a number of acronyms associated with State Revolving Funds:
SRF - state revolving fund
CWSRF - clean water state revolving fund
DWSRF - drinking water state revolving fund
IUP - intended use plan
DAC – disadvantaged communities

Lunch and Learns

Every Friday at noon, we do a Lunch and Learn livestream.  See us on Facebook at "Sierra Club Iowa Chapter".  These will be recorded so you can watch them anytime.  Topics will be selected based on what is happening during the week and will be announced the day before the livestream.  During the legislative session, we cover issues coming before the Iowa legislature.

In case you missed our past webinars and lunch and learn sessions, you can still see them. 

Volunteer for the Iowa Chapter

Almost everything we do is done by volunteers like you.  If you would like to volunteer for the Iowa Chapter, please let us know by sending an E-mail to Iowa.chapter@sierraclub.org.  Or sign up by using the online form.  There are many opportunities for you to make a difference:

• making phone calls

• developing graphics for banners and flyers

• working on legislative issues

• working on elections

• fundraising

• organizing events

• joining an issue committee 

If you would like to join our legislative action team, sign up here.  Keep on top of what is happening at the Iowa legislature.  Be alerted when you should contact your legislators about pending legislation.

Sierra Club - working every day on Iowa’s environmental problems

Sierra Club is Iowa’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.  Not only that, we are the best bet in the state for achieving bold solutions to Iowa’s environmental problems.

We work in the courts, before Iowa’s public agencies, and in the halls of the legislature.  The Iowa Chapter's effort to protect the environment takes financial support.  The Chapter receives very little financial support from the national Sierra Club.  Can we count on you for a donation to ensure even more victories?  Your contribution will be put to work here in Iowa on issues that affect every day Iowans – water quality, clean air, protection of Iowa's soil, parks and natural areas, and a strong democracy.  The Iowa Chapter is relentless in fighting back bad legislation that affects every one of us. 

Your non-deductible contributions make it possible for us to fight bad legislation and to promote good legislation.  We appreciate your past and on-going support of these efforts.  You can make a non-deductible donation with a credit card.   A non-deductible donation supports the Chapter's effective, citizen-based advocacy and lobbying programs.  If you prefer, a non-deductible check can be written to the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and mailed to:

Treasurer
Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter
PO Box 1058
Marion, IA 52302

You can also make a tax-deductible donation with a credit card.  Tax-deductible activities are limited to public interest education, research and legal actions.  A deductible check can be written to the Sierra Club Foundation with “Iowa Chapter” written in the memo line.

Thank you for your support.

Donate your used vehicle

As the Sierra Club Foundation's Iowa Chapter continues to raise charitable funds to support its work in Iowa, won’t you consider participating in our vehicle donation program?  Our partners over at CARS have made the process of donating your unused or unneeded car, truck, motorcycle, boat or RV easy, efficient and secure.  They’ll take care of everything from picking up your vehicle to sending you a tax receipt for your generous gift.  To learn more about The Sierra Club Foundation's Iowa Chapter vehicle donation program, please call 844-674-3772.  Or visit our webpage to get started today!

Sierra Club Foundation promotes climate solutions, conservation, and movement building through a powerful combination of strategic philanthropy and grassroots advocacy. The Foundation is the fiscal sponsor of Sierra Club’s charitable environmental programs.

For more information 

Planned giving . . . naming the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter in your will 

Ensure your environmental legacy by naming the Iowa Chapter in your will or trust. These gifts cost you nothing now. You can hold onto your assets for as long as you need them.

Thank you for supporting our work!