The specific terms of a pipeline company’s contracts with ethanol plants in Iowa are key to a decision about whether it deserves a permit to build, an administrative law judge has decided.
As such, the judge said last week that Summit Carbon Solutions should be required to provide that information to the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and the Sierra Club of Iowa, which have sought the information for more than a year.
Summit challenged the proposed order with the Iowa Utilities Board, which is poised to begin a final evidentiary hearing on the company’s hazardous liquid pipeline permit request in less than two weeks. It’s unclear when the board will make a decision about the order.
Summit has provided redacted versions of the contracts under a protective agreement that limits their disclosure to only attorneys representing the groups, according to IUB documents. Those attorneys must keep the information confidential.