PIERRE — In a unanimous decision, the three-member South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday rejected Navigator CO2’s application for a permit to construct the Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota.
The commission also unanimously refused the company’s request to preempt county pipeline setback ordinances. The ordinances mandate minimum distances between pipelines and dwellings, schools and other places.
In public comments during Wednesday’s meeting at the state Capitol, Commissioner Kristie Fiegen listed a number of reasons for denying the permit, including what she described as a failure by the company to adequately disclose carbon dioxide plume modeling, and a failure to provide timely notices to some of the landowners along the proposed route. The commission conducted a hearing on the permit application from July 25 to Aug. 8.