South Dakota landowners safe as North Dakota drops pipeline lawsuit threat

Neighboring state's top legal official had indicated 'all options' were being explored to compel eminent domain for carbon dioxide transmission projects in Mount Rushmore State

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley. (Kyle Martin / For the North Dakota Monitor)

North Dakota’s decision not to sue South Dakota over its ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines has landowners and their allies breathing a sigh of relief.

Last week, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley suggested South Dakota’s House Bill 1052 — dubbed a “kill shot” to the long-planned, 2,000-mile carbon dioxide transmission line from Iowa to North Dakota that would cross nearly two dozen eastern South Dakota counties — could merit legal action. On Monday, he announced his office would not pursue a lawsuit, despite the restrictions widely seen as fatal to Summit Carbon Solutions’ increasingly mired project.

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