Landowners & Advocates Impacted by Proposed CO2 Pipelines Converge on Federal PHMSA Public Safety Meeting in Des Moines May 31-June 1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 30, 2023
Contacts:
Mark Hefflinger, Bold Alliance & Easement Action Teams LLC, mark@boldalliance.org
Jane Kleeb, Bold Alliance & Easement Action Teams LLC, 402-705-3622, jane@boldalliance.org
Emma Schmit, Bold Alliance & Easement Action Teams LLC, 712-830-3748, emma@boldalliance.org

Landowners & Advocates Impacted by Proposed CO2 Pipelines Converge on Federal PHMSA Public Safety Meeting in Des Moines May 31-June 1

Satartia First Responders & Victims Panel: Wednesday, May 31, 6:00 p.m.*
(*Hosted by Bold Alliance at Iowa Taproom after the main conference concludes for the day)

Des Moines — Landowners and advocates from a half-dozen states will converge on Des Moines, IA this Wednesday, May 31 and Thursday, June 1 to attend the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) “Public Meeting on Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Safety” to be held at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. The Public Meeting will focus on the thousands of miles of proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline projects that are pushing for permits and suing landowners via eminent domain to gain access to their land, and inform PHMSA’s current rulemaking it has undertaken to update federal carbon pipeline safety regulations.

While the PHMSA Public Meeting will include participation from a range of stakeholders — including impacted landowners facing eminent domain, Bold Alliance attorney Paul Blackburn, and Pipeline Safety Trust director Bill Caram — Bold Alliance will also host a separate panel, after the conclusion of the first day’s program at 6:00 p.m. at Iowa Taproom (215 E Third St.), featuring a number of first responders and victims from the 2020 Denbury carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi. During the meeting, Bold Alliance will also deliver a petition urging U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and PHMSA to issue a ruling that assures current regulations apply to pipelines carrying CO2 in all phases, and clear up the confusion and misinformation being spread by CO2 pipeline developers on what actions states, counties, and municipalities may undertake to protect their communities against the dangers of a CO2 pipeline rupture and other concerns.

• WHAT: Landowners & advocates from IA, NE, SD, ND, MS & other states attend PHMSA Public Meeting
• WHERE: Des Moines Marriott Downtown. 700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50309
• WHEN:
  • Wednesday, May 31
    • 8:30 a.m. PHMSA Public Meeting Begins
    • 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Lunchtime Press Conference feat. Satartia first responders, victims & others
      • LOCATION: (Marriott – outside in front of hotel)
    • 6:00 p.m.: Satartia First Responders & Victims Panel & Dinner hosted by Bold Alliance (catered dinner for landowners provided)
    • SPEAKERS: Gerald Briggs (Satartia first responder); Jack Willingham (Satartia first responder); DeEmmeris “Debrae” Burns (Satartia victim); Dan Zegart (Journalist)
      • LOCATION: Iowa Taproom, 215 E Third St, Des Moines
      • WATCH: Video of the Satartia panel will be posted to the Bold Nebraska Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/boldnebraska
  • Thursday, June 1
    • 8:30 a.m. PHMSA Public Meeting Begins
    • 1:00 p.m. Landowners & State Advocates host lunchtime press availability

STATE ORGANIZERS & EASEMENT ACTION TEAMS CONTACTS

Nebraska:
Shelli Meyer, Nebraska Easement Action Team (impacted landowner), 515-422-6136, shelli@boldalliance.org / https://NEeasement.org

Iowa:
Jessica Mazour, Iowa Sierra Club, 515-313-5253, jessica.mazour@sierraclub.org
Deb Main, Iowa Easement Team, 712 490-4097 deborah_main@yahoo.com / https://IAeasement.org

South Dakota:
Chase Jensen, Dakota Rural Action & South Dakota Easement Team, 605-697-5204, chase@dakotarural.org / https://SDeasement.org

North Dakota:
Eliot Huggins, Dakota Resource Council & North Dakota Easement Team, 231-313-5161, eliot@drcinfo.com / https://NDeasement.org

About the Bold Alliance
The Bold Alliance is coordinating state-based groups with our Pipeline Fighters Hub and landowner legal groups called the Easement Action Teams to stop carbon pipelines from using eminent domain for private gain. We believe that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is unproven and overly expensive and wastefully incentivized approach to climate change, and that the carbon pipelines needed for CCS are poorly planned, under-regulated, and risky infrastructure. These huge and complex projects should not move forward until counties, states and the federal government prove first that they are a better climate solution than renewable energy, and second that safety, planning, and routing standards are in place to avoid inefficient chaotic development driven by wasteful federal spending. (https://boldalliance.org)