The Webster County Board of Supervisors approved Synder and Associates Tuesday morning to represent the county as the Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline project progresses.

The Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline would remove carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants and transport them in liquid form to underground geological storage in North Dakota where it would be permanently stored.

After the public informational meeting for Webster County landowners was held Oct. 15, Summit Carbon Solutions could move forward with its project. The next step is to complete environmental and cultural surveys on the desired land before acquiring land rights. Summit Carbon projects it will file for the permit with the Iowa Utilities Board at the beginning of 2022.

With the project moving forward, the Webster County Board of Supervisors needed to approve and authorize an engineering company to represent the county for the inspection of the Midwest Carbon Express Pipeline.

The supervisors heard presentations from ISG Inc. of Des Moines, and Snyder and Associates of Fort Dodge and they received a written proposal from LT Leon Associates out of Des Moines.

Kristina Paradise, a construction technician with Snyder and Associates, spoke to the supervisors about her extensive experience working with pipelines and presented her resume.

The supervisors took a few moments to discuss and moved to approve Snyder and Associates with the reasoning that they prefer to have a local company handling the job and they appreciated Paradise’s credentials.

While Snyder and Associates were approved by the county, their services will be paid for by Summit Carbon Solutions as the project progresses.