PIERRE, S.D. (KELOLAND) — The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission is weighing in on the future of carbon dioxide pipelines in the state.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the members unanimously decided to deny the Navigator CO2 project’s request that the state commission preempt pipeline ordinances passed in Minnehaha and Moody counties. Commissioner Chris Nelson described it as “an extreme remedy.”

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission is next considering chair Kristie Fiegen’s motion to deny Navigator’s permit.

Fiegen said she isn’t confident Navigator will comply with all state and local requirements. She cited Navigator’s failure to originally notify all landowners along the proposed route and the company’s refusal to share the results of the plume study until late in the hearing.

Fiegen also said Navigator could unduly affect the region’s development.

Commissioner Gary Hanson said Navigator hadn’t met the burden of proof laid out in South Dakota law, hadn’t shown the willingness to comply with all applicable laws and rules and hadn’t always been cooperative with the PUC staff’s requests for information.

Commissioner Chris Nelson said he would support the motion to deny but, for him, the question was closer than it was for Fiegen or Hanson. Nelson said Navigator hadn’t addressed the welfare of the inhabitants along the proposed route, which was one of requirements in state law. He cited the high percentages of landowners who refused Navigator’s offers to allow the line.

About 30 landowners along Navigator’s proposed route and along the proposed route of the SCS Carbon Transport pipeline attended the Navigator decision Wednesday. So did Brett Koenecke and Cody Honeywell, two Pierre attorneys who have been representing SCS.

Navigator issued the following statement:

The state commission opens a hearing on the SCS application on September 11.