A representative for Summit Carbon Solutions, one of the two companies planning carbon pipelines through the state, gave an update on the project to the Webster County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Paul Phillips, with TurnKey Logistics of Houston on behalf of Summit, told the supervisors that construction of the pipeline is projected to start in the summer of 2023. He said the company is about 30 percent complete with land easement acquisitions in Iowa.

The carbon pipeline’s purpose will be to capture carbon emissions from 32 ethanol plants — including 11 in Iowa — and transport the carbon to a location in North Dakota, where it can be permanently sequestered, Phillips said.

“Fifty percent of the corn produced in Iowa is used for ethanol production,” he said. “So we are building this pipeline to directly benefit the citizens of Iowa and benefit the citizens of Webster County.”

During its April 26 meeting, the Board of Supervisors signed a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board to record its objection to the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipeline projects. Many Webster County land owners who would be impacted by the Summit pipeline — as well as the Navigator CO2 pipeline — have publicly opposed the projects.

If built, the Summit pipeline will snake along the eastern side of Webster County, entering south of Vincent, running northwest of Duncombe, south to Lehigh and then southwest between Harcourt and Dayton, before crossing into Boone County.

According to a factsheet Phillips gave the county supervisors, the project’s total investment in Webster County will be nearly $28 million, with an additional $1 million annually in new property taxes.