CO2 Pipeline Update

• Draft Agriculture Mitigation Rules

• Summit’s CO2 - Permanent Sequestration or Enhanced Oil Recovery?

Climate Change

• EPA releases coal plant rules

Protecting the Environment

• Play it safe: have your well water tested for nitrates

• Catastrophic East Nishnabotna fishkill

• Reserve October 5 – Sierra Club Annual Meeting

• Lunch and Learns Fridays at noon

Plus

• 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

EPA releases coal plant rules

In a major win for the climate and public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized four separate standards that will slash air, water, and carbon pollution from power plants. These critically-needed safeguards will improve air and water quality for families, particularly for Iowa communities suffering from the pollution of MidAmerican Energy’s five massive coal plants, making them the largest carbon polluter in the state.

Over one million people submitted public comments on proposals to strengthen these federal standards, including thousands of Sierra Club members and supporters who urged the Administration to adopt the most protective rules possible. More information on the EPA’s rules can be found here.

In response to the announcement of the standards, Emma Colman, Organizing Representative in Iowa for Sierra Club released the following statement: 

“Despite its flashy marketing campaigns, MidAmerican Energy has been Iowa’s number one carbon polluter with its five coal plants. But the days of unchecked climate pollution from fossil fuel power plants from utilities like MidAmerican are numbered. These standards put the health and safety of everyday people first. Every person, regardless of zip code, deserves clean air, safe water, and a stable climate.”

A summary of the new rules follows:

1. Carbon Pollution Standards will limit pollution from existing coal-fired power plants and new gas plants, reducing climate emissions that go into our atmosphere.

2. Mercury and Toxic Air Standards will protect vulnerable communities from toxic air pollution, including heavy metals and mercury.

3. Coal Wastewater Standards will dramatically reduce the amount of toxic pollutants and heavy metals, including mercury and arsenic, discharged by coal-fired power plants into our rivers and lakes, many of which are used for fishing, swimming, and even drinking water sources.

4. Coal Ash Pollution Rules will protect groundwater and communities near coal plants from old, dangerous coal ash landfills and ash dumps that leak toxic pollutants and metals into our waterways.

   

Play it safe: have your well water tested for nitrates

If you have a private well and live near farm fields where anhydrous ammonia is spread, near where a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) is located, or near the fields where CAFO manure is spread, you should be vigilant in having your well water tested. 

Rain water and snow melt carry nitrates from fields into the ground where it can enter your drinking water.  Furthermore, CAFO waste pits can develop cracks that allow seeping into ground water.  Nobody has responsibility for testing the ground water near a CAFO to determine if it has developed leaks.  And nobody regularly inspects fields to ensure that the manure spread on them stays on the field and does not leach into your well water. 

Components of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer and manure can enter your well and contaminate your drinking water.  One of those components - nitrates - can result in blue baby syndrome in infants when the contaminated water is used in formulas, which can lead to death or serious health issues. [1]  Pregnant women who drink water contaminated with nitrates face an increased risk of giving birth to children with birth-defects, including neural tube defects, oralfacial clefts, and limb deficiencies. 

Play it safe and have your water tested every year for nitrates and coliform bacteria. [2]  The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that you also have the water tested for total dissolved solids and pH levels.  Contact your county public health department to determine where to take your water for testing.

If your well is contaminated, find an alternate source of drinking water as soon as possible. 

[1] Blue baby syndrome is also called infant methemoglobinemia.  The baby’s skin around the mouth, hands, and feet turns blue because the nitrates cause a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood which reduces the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the baby’s cells and tissues.  Infants younger than three months have the highest risk.

[2] The Iowa Department of Public Health tracks the number of wells that have tested positive for nitrates.  See https://hhs.iowa.gov/public-health/data/environment/well-water

 Photo: Dr. Tom Rosburg, right, stands next to a seep and the Middle Fork of the Raccoon River at the Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids, Iowa.

Catastrophic East Nishnabotna fishkill

Between March 9 and March 11, 2024, a valve was left open on a large fertilizer storage tank at NEW Cooperative, Inc. near Red Oak, Iowa.  The open valve allowed 1,500 tons (265,000 gallons) of liquid nitrogen fertilizer (32% solution) to drain from the tank into a drainage ditch, which then flowed into the East Nishnabotna River.  Not only was the valve left open, nobody was monitoring the site over the weekend.  The company had not installed any detection equipment for monitoring open valves.

Over the next few days, the pollution traveled all the way downstream in Iowa, through Missouri, and to the confluence of the Nishnabotna River with the Missouri River – a distance of 60 miles.  Along the way, it killed almost 800,000 fish, plus frogs, snakes, mussels, and earthworms. 

The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) is the body of citizens that oversees the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The Commission must demand that NEW Cooperative pay a penalty and restitution for damages equal to the devastation caused by the fertilizer spill. The DNR is limited to levying a fine of $10,000, but the EPC can refer the case to the Attorney General for action that can result in a fine greater than $10,000 and obtain an injunction to ensure that an event like this by NEW Cooperative will not happen again.

The EPC will meet on May 22, 2024. We are asking the Commission to refer NEW Cooperative to the Attorney General for appropriate action.

What you can do:

Please take a few moments and e-mail a comment to the Environmental Protection Commission. Send the e-mail to alicia.plathe@dnr.iowa.gov.

Your comments should stress:

• The details and seriousness of the fertilizer spill warrant a serious penalty.

• EPC should ensure that DNR has made a thorough investigation of the event.

• EPC should refer this matter to the Attorney General for appropriate enhanced enforcement action.

Draft Agriculture Mitigation Rules

Last week Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and over 70 impacted landowners attended an Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) meeting to discuss changes to Iowa Utilities Board Chapter 9 Rules for Restoration of Agricultural Land During and After Pipeline Construction. 

Participating in this rulemaking does not mean we are accepting the fate of Summit and Wolf - we will keep resisting at every step and we will stop these projects dead in their tracks.  However, the IUB is rewriting these rules with or without us - we can't pass up the opportunity to strengthen the rules for every pipeline that proposes to build in Iowa.

Years after the Dakota Access pipeline was constructed, there are still major problems causing crop loss all along the pipeline route. Iowa's agricultural land is the backbone of Iowa.  Therefore it is of utmost importance that we have the strongest rules possible that prioritize complete restoration of land, input from the landowners and tenants, and that all work is overseen by an inspector. 

The rules need to be strengthened in the following manner:

• The words 'hazardous liquid' must be listed in the definition of a pipeline to ensure applicability of these rules to hazardous liquid pipelines. The definition should read: “Pipeline” means any pipe, pipes, or pipelines used for the transportation or transmission of any solid, liquid (including hazardous liquid), or gaseous substance, except water, within or through Iowa.
• Inspectors must be present during all aspects of pipeline construction to ensure rules, laws, best practices and agreements are adhered to by the pipeline company.
• Landowners and tenants must have the right to be involved in decisions impacting the orderly development of their property, including those surrounding drainage, seeding, and fencing.
• Science-based methods, like the ball test, must be utilized when determining wet conditions to mitigate unnecessary compaction of the soil.
• A clearance of 24 inches must be provided between a pipeline and any tile to limit temporary and permanent damages.

This is just a first step in a long process to rewrite and approve the rules.  We will keep you updated as the process proceeds.

What you can do

IUB is still accepting comments on the rules.  You can submit comments to itsupport@iub.iowa.gov.

Summit’s CO2 - Permanent Sequestration or Enhanced Oil Recovery?

As we’ve said all along - Summit’s CO2 will be used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).  A recent article from Reuters exposed Summit’s hypocritical statements over the past three years about what they intend to do with the CO2 after it is captured and piped up to North Dakota.

This matters because Summit claims to be a public benefit by capturing and permanently sequestering carbon emissions and therefore mitigating climate change.  If the CO2 is used to pump more oil out of the ground, it provides no public benefit, it actually does more harm.

Permanent sequestration is the storage of CO2 after it is captured from industrial facilities and power plants and permanently stored in geologic formations underground.

Enhanced Oil Recovery is a process that uses gases, such as CO2, to extract oil that has not already been retrieved through primary and secondary recovery techniques. EOR extends the life of fossil fuels, it does not mitigate climate change.

The 45Q Federal Tax Credit provides payment for both Permanent Sequestration ($85/ton) and EOR ($60/ton).

Sierra Club Iowa Chapter has suspected all along that Summit intended to use the CO2 for EOR because Bruce Rastetter said it himself before the projects were public and because the pipeline ends very close to the Bakken oil fields.

Despite our claims, Summit denied EOR many times over the past 3 years, including on their own website and during sworn testimony in front of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB).

The Reuters story exposes recent statements that Summit representatives have said to industry insiders and potential investors that they do intend to use the CO2 for EOR.

North Dakota’s oil boom peaked in 2019 and John Harju, the Vice President of the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center, said North Dakota will need 10 times more carbon dioxide than it can capture to free billions of barrels of oil currently trapped in the Bakken fields. “Importing CO2 via pipeline is something that I think at the end of the day is going to be necessary.”

Iowa Law, 479B, says a permit shall not be granted to a pipeline company unless the board determines that the proposed services will promote the public convenience and necessity. Summit has not been honest about its intentions.  Bottom line, Summit’s project is not necessary or convenient.  It is dangerous and destructive and an abuse of eminent domain.  And, it WILL NOT mitigate climate change.

The Summit CO2 pipeline route

Source

Leah Douglas, "US carbon pipeline company pledges no oil recovery, but Bakken drillers want it", Reuters, March 11, 2024

Reserve October 5 – Sierra Club Annual Meeting

The Sierra Club annual meeting will be on October 5, 2024, at the Drake University Olmsted Center, 2507 University Ave, Des Moines, Iowa.  The cost is $40 per person.  We hope you can join us. 

The schedule for the day is:

10:00 - 10:30  Arrive and check in

10:30 - Welcome and opening remarks

10:45 -11:45 -  Dr. Larry Weber, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Edwin B. Green Chair in Hydraulics, University of Iowa, Director of IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering

11:45 - 12:45 -  Lunch, followed by Sierra Club lunch and learn

1:00 - 2:00  - Dr. David Cwiertny, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, William D. Ashton Professor of Civil Engineering, Director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination

2:00 - 3:00  - Mike Owen, Deputy Director Common Good Iowa

3:00 - 3:30  - Open forum and next steps

3:30 -  Adjourn

We hope to see you on October 5.

Lunch and Learns Fridays at noon

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.

• See "Rulemaking: Chapter 9 - Restoration of Agricultural Land During and After Pipeline Construction", May 10, 2024
• Learn about "Summit CO2 for Sequestration or EOR?", May 3, 2024
• Watch "IUB Denied Our Motion To Consolidate Summit's Dockets", April 27, 2024

Photo, hikers at Whiterock Conservancy, May 4, 2024.

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.

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