Pipeline Company Faces Legal and Political Hurdles in South Dakota

Summit Carbon Solutions, which is proposing a $9 billion carbon dioxide pipeline across five Midwest states, encountered fierce legal and political challenges in South Dakota. The company filed 156 eminent domain lawsuits to secure land for its project, a move that sparked widespread opposition. By early 2025, this aggressive legal strategy prompted the state legislature to pass a law banning the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, as reported by Reuters on March 6, 2025.

The political backlash was compounded by a notable shift in the 2024 primary elections, where anti-pipeline candidates unseated incumbents. Despite the project’s approvals in other states, Summit Carbon Solutions now finds its future in South Dakota clouded by new regulatory hurdles and ongoing legal disputes, leading to uncertainty about the project's timeline and overall viability.