Wolf Carbon Solutions is asking the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject two motions to dismiss its pipeline construction application.
Citizens Against Predatory Pipelines and Christine and Thomas Kost of Milan both argue the maps of the proposed pipeline route are inadequate. They say it's impossible for landowners to determine if their property will be impacted because the notification corridor is a mile wide, rather than a 200-foot wide project width requested in the company's application to the ICC.
Opponents also note the application doesn't show the proposed locations for 33 above-ground facilities associated with the pipeline.
But Wolf Carbon Solutions said it is following the law, and that the wider notification corridor provides the company with the flexibility to find a route. They said the final 200-foot wide project width will be contained within the notification corridor, adding the company also provides landowners with a map showing the pipeline's path through their property, upon request.
The proposed pipeline would run through several Illinois counties, including Peoria and Tazewell. It would transport liquefied carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids and Clinton, Iowa to a permanent underground sequestration site in Decatur.
Advocates contend the pipeline would reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and create thousands of jobs. Opponents are concerned about safety in the event of a pipeline rupture, the use of eminent domain to secure property, and the potential impacts on agricultural land.
The Illinois Commerce Commission is expected to make a decision on the construction application next May.
Meanwhile, the company behind the proposed Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline says it is canceling that project.
Navigator CO2 cited the "unpredictable nature" of the regulatory and governmental processes involved in getting approvals, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa.
The pipeline was to terminate at a permanent underground sequestration site in Christian and Montgomery counties in Illinois, and would have passed through 14 Illinois counties, including Fulton and Knox.
