Calls for moratorium on CO2 pipeline ignore year of reports

Questions and concerns were raised recently about public safety and awareness regarding a proposed carbon sequestration project, though the timing in which those concerns were aired raises questions of their own.
The News-Register first reported in early March of last year that Tallgrass was finalizing a partnership with KAAPA Ethanol Aurora to capture and compress the CO2 coming from the local plant in readiness for tying into the Trailblazer natural gas pipeline running across southern Nebraska. That report was followed less than a month later with an ANR article outlining plans detailed by KAAPA CEO Chuck Woodside, who confirmed and explained the reasoning and benefits behind the project.
Citing a growing trend of large-scale economic development projects, the ANR staff then published a “Here we grow Hamilton County” progress edition in August, (posted on the ANR website) which included articles about the history of ethanol development in the county, including the latest proposal involving CO2 sequestration.
Notably, that in-depth report also included an announcement that Tallgrass had introduced what it called a Community Benefits Agreement intended to “enhance public safety, protect landowner rights and invest in the community.” That agreement set a new precedent for pipeline infrastructure by establishing a series of community initiatives as well as creating landowner rights protections throughout the pipeline’s life cycle, from early project development through easement negotiations, operations and decommissioning.
That agreement, as previously reported, includes a first responder grant program, a partnership and scholarship program with Southeast Community College tied to the Energy Generations Operations Program at Milford College, as well as other benefits endorsed and commended by Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Alliance, which works to protect the state’s land and water resources.
“Tallgrass is the first pipeline company we have encountered that has been willing to engage proactively, acknowledge the need for landowner benefits that Bold fights to achieve, and genuinely commit itself to addressing those benefits by written agreement,” Kleeb said.
All of that news and information, published here in Hamilton County regarding a project of local interest, offered the opportunity for those with concerns to publicly engage in the process. Coming before the county board of commissioners several months later calling for a moratorium on CO2 sequestration due to an “unacceptable lack of transparency” regarding a project that "lacks public awareness" is simply not a fair nor accurate way to start a conversation so late in the game with construction having already begun. 
-- Kurt Johnson