Victory For Landowners: Wolf Carbon Solutions Withdraws CO2 Pipeline Project Application at Iowa Utilities Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 2, 2024

Victory For Landowners: Wolf Carbon Solutions Withdraws CO2 Pipeline Project Application at Iowa Utilities Commission

Des Moines – Wolf Carbon Solutions on Dec. 2 filed a request to withdraw its application for a planned CO2 pipeline project with the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC).

The cancellation marks a significant victory for the landowners and communities that have fought tirelessly to protect their land, rights, and safety from the risks posed by the controversial project for the past two years.

“While Wolf has continued to build relationships with landowners and stakeholders interested in the Project, a number of factors have continued to delay Wolf’s ability to proceed with the Project and Wolf has decided to cease pursuit of the required regulatory approvals at this time, as Wolf does not deem it to be an efficient utilization of resources for the Commission staff to continue processing the Petition without any certainty around Wolf’s timing for proceeding on the Project. Wolf will make a determination concerning any required new filing with the Commission once more certainty exists concerning its plans to proceed with the Project,” the company stated in a filing with the IUC.

The withdrawal leaves the future of the project in serious question, as Wolf also withdrew its application before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) — in the state where its planned pipeline would cross nine counties before ending at an underground sequestration facility — back in November 2023.

Notably, Wolf’s decision to withdraw its permit application in Illinois came after the staff of the ICC recommended the state regulatory agency deny the company’s permit. The company stated at the time that it promised to refile at the ICC “soon,” but no re-application has been submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission — and Wolf’s withdrawal of its application in Iowa is evidence the project may now be completely dead.

The move by Wolf Carbon to cancel its proposed CO2 pipeline project also comes after Navigator CO2 Ventures, which had spent years seeking agreements with Midwest ethanol plants, and voluntary landowner easements, canceled its own planned multistate CO2 pipeline project.

Jessica Wiskus, Linn County landowner, said, “After the accidents at ADM’s CO2 sequestration site in Decatur, Illinois and the subsequent enforcement order by the EPA, we knew that the handwriting was on the wall. This is not a safe technology, and the scale of the potential hazards posed by CO2 capture and sequestration make it impossible from a liability standpoint. It was only a matter of weeks after those accidents came to light that Wolf admitted, by their withdrawal, that the proposed CO2 pipeline project was not viable.”

Lisa Dircks, Cedar County landowner, said, “As far as we know, no one along Wolf’s route signed an easement. That shows the power of communities sticking together to protect their land, families and future from dangerous carbon pipeline proposals. While it’s a major victory, the fight isn’t done yet. We’ll keep resisting until every risky carbon pipeline company realizes we won’t sacrifice ourselves for their unnecessary projects.”

Jess Mazour, Sierra Club Iowa Conservation Program Associate, said, “Against all odds, we’ve stopped the Navigator and Wolf carbon pipelines. It’s taken 3 years, a lot of hard work, stress and time but if we work together, we can stop the Summit carbon pipeline too.”

Emma Schmit, Bold Alliance’s Pipeline Fighters Director, said, “It’s no surprise that Wolf has joined the 70% of all ethanol-based carbon capture projects that are cancelled before construction. Wolf’s withdrawal should serve as a signal to all corporations looking to profit at the expense of our communities, our safety, and our property rights. We will stand in opposition to exploitative carbon capture pipelines, and as we’ve proven once again, we will win.”

Withdawal of HLP Petition - Wolf