Shelby County residents, more crowd State Capitol with CO2 pipeline, eminent domain on their minds

    DES MOINES – The steps outside of the Iowa State Capitol were awash in a sea of red shirts and signs held high against eminent domain and the potential of CO2 pipelines being built throughout the state.
    “(Tuesday) was the big carbon pipeline opposition rally and lobby day. There’s hundreds of people who are up at the capitol that have been impacted by one of the three carbon pipelines,” said Jess Mazour, conservation program coordinator for the Sierra Club Iowa chapter. “We’re here to tell our legislators that they need to take action and stop these pipelines.”
    People from across the state of Iowa, and even Austin, Texas, attended the rally.
    “If oil ruptures it makes a mess, if natural gas ruptures it burns, but if CO2 ruptures it’s a problem,” said Tom Honeyman of Mills County. “It’s 50 times worse than anhydrous ammonia.”
    Connie Esker, whose family has a century farm in Shelby County traveled from Austin, Texas.
    “We just want our land to be out there and do what it’s supposed to do,” she said. “I hope that those who are influential and can do something about these pipelines will be listening, will open their hearts and listen. I hope they will truly do the right thing and not what is maybe convenient for them.”
    Iowa Rep. Steve Holt (R-Denison) said he knows there’s a lot of concern in Shelby County about the pipeline.
    “I’m standing for property owners,” Holt said in an interview after the subcommittee meeting. “As I said in the subcommittee meeting I have always supported ethanol, I’ve always supported renewable fuels and I still do. But now it seems to be suggested that in order to support renewable fuels I also have to support the eminent domain to build this pipeline and I reject that.”
    Holt said it’s simply not true.
    “The bottom line is I have no problem with the pipeline. I have a problem with the blunt force use of government to take the people’s land to build it,” he said. “That’s why our bill stipulates 90% of the total pipeline miles in Iowa before they can ask for eminent domain. I don’t think eminent domain should be used for a private economic development project but rather for essential government services like roads and highways and those things.”
    Shawna Wahl of Dickinson County said they have property that would be affected by one of the pipelines.
    “I think it was fantastic so many people were here,” she said. “I think there are a lot of people who are against it and we need to get more people to show up.”