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Navigator withdraws pipeline permit application in Iowa
Navigator CO2 officially withdrew its petition in Iowa for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit on Monday after announcing last week it was canceling its project. The company had proposed to build a 1,350-mile pipeline system in five states to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and other facilities to Illinois for underground sequestration or […]
Two more Iowa flocks infected by bird flu
State officials have identified two more domestic bird flocks with highly pathogenic avian influenza, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The virus, which is very contagious and often deadly to birds that are raised for food, was recently confirmed in a commercial flock of about 47,500 turkeys in Pocahontas County and […]
Feds slightly lower Iowa corn yield estimates
Corn yields in Iowa might be less than they have been in the past two years, but not by much, according to a forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The department this month lowered its yield expectation for Iowa to 199 bushels per acre, which is still comparatively robust but falls short of 2021 […]
Bird flu detected in Buena Vista County turkey flock
A commercial flock of about 50,000 turkeys in Buena Vista County was recently infected by a highly transmissible bird flu, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Highly pathogenic avian influenza was last detected in Iowa in March in a small flock in Chickasaw County. The virus has been relatively quiet in […]
Navigator CO2 cancels its multistate pipeline project
One of three carbon dioxide pipeline companies that have sought to build in Iowa announced on Friday that it’s canceling its proposal amid the “unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes” of Iowa and South Dakota. Navigator CO2 had proposed to build a more than 1,300-mile pipeline system to transport captured carbon dioxide from […]
Summit says pipeline system won’t be operational until 2026
Summit Carbon Solutions has pushed back the estimated operational date of its sprawling carbon dioxide pipeline system by more than a year after permit setbacks in the Dakotas. The company initially indicated its five-state, 2000-mile system would be in operation sometime in 2024. It would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants for underground sequestration […]
Rainfall eliminates ‘exceptional’ drought in eastern Iowa
Substantial rainfall last week over a wide area near Cedar Rapids helped alleviate the worst drought conditions in the state, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report on Thursday. Exceptional drought — the agency’s worst dryness designation — for weeks had persisted in several east-central Iowa counties, primarily in Benton and Linn. It has been […]
North Dakota will hold hearing on county pipeline ordinances
Utility regulators in North Dakota might hold a hearing no sooner than December to consider oral arguments about county ordinances that would restrict the placement of Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline. That conflicts with the company’s request for the North Dakota Public Service Commission to overrule two county ordinances without soliciting new input from groups that […]
Landowner objects to pipeline hearing on Election Day
A landowner in the path of Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline said it’s improper for state regulators to hold part of the company’s evidentiary hearing on Election Day. “To attend or participate in the hearing, persons not residing in the local area of the hearing venue will be traveling away from home voting […]
Harvest slows amid rainfall but is still ahead of average
About 42% of the state’s corn crop and 74% of its soybeans have been harvested this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Monday. That is up from 30% of corn and 52% of soybeans a week ago. Harvest progress has been stymied by significant rainfall in the past week. “Stations across […]
State regulators again consider permit for controversial cattle facility
A Clayton County livestock facility is again seeking approval from state regulators for how it will dispose of the manure it produces, and there is continued opposition. “So this appears to be deja vu all over again,” said Wallace Taylor, an attorney for the Sierra Club of Iowa. “The problem is that Supreme Beef’s operation […]
DNR: Dumont man burned more than 1,000 tires
The state Department of Natural Resources recently fined a north-central Iowa man $7,000 for a fire that burned more than 1,000 tires and a building. Brian Young, of rural Dumont, reported the fire to local emergency responders on Feb. 4, 2023, when he lost control of it, according to DNR records. Young had burned a […]