Description: Carbon dioxide pipeline developer's lawsuit challenging county ordinance that regulates pipeline.
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Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC v. Bremer County
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/20/2023 Stipulation Download Joint stipulation for dismissal without prejudice filed. Challenges to Iowa Counties’ Regulation of Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Dismissed After Project Canceled. On the same day that Navigator CO2 announced that it had decided to cancel its carbon dioxide pipeline project (known as the Heartland Greenway project), the company joined in filing stipulations of dismissal without prejudice of its lawsuits challenging Iowa county laws that would have regulated the pipeline. The company cited “the unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa,” as the reason for the cancellation. 04/28/2023 Complaint Download Amended complaint filed. 04/12/2023 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Lawsuits Challenged County Ordinances Regulating Carbon Dioxide Pipelines. The developer of a proposed interstate pipeline that would transport captured carbon dioxide across Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota from emitting facilities to storage filed lawsuits in federal court in Iowa challenging two counties’ zoning ordinances that the developer said unlawfully usurped federal and state regulatory authority. The complaint asserted that both federal and state law preempted the ordinances and sought a declaration that the ordinances had no effect because they were unlawful exercises of power. The developer also asserted claims of inverse condemnation and tortious interference with contractual relationships and prospective business advantages. The developer sought preliminary and permanent injunctive relief enjoining the counties from enforcing or implementing the ordinances, similar ordinances, or any other requirement that would regulate any aspect of the project, including safety, location, or routing.