A North Dakota district court has struck down a state statute that allowed the government to compel landowners to allow underground storage of carbon dioxide beneath their property.
The ruling, handed down Tuesday in favor of the Northwest Landowners Association, determined that the portion of law enabling a forced “amalgamation” of underground pore-space without provision for a jury-determined “just compensation” violates constitutional protections.
The law which has been previously used by regulators to permit companies to store CO2 deep underground if 60% of affected surface landowners agreed, effectively allowed fossil-fuel related firms such as Summit Carbon Solutions to use private pore-space even if a substantial minority objected.
Proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS) view underground sequestration as a vital tool in decarbonizing heavy industry and power generation: by 2025, the United States hosts dozens of CO₂-transport and storage projects, supported by tax incentives and federal climate policy.
Yet this ruling throws into question the legal foundation of future storage permits in North Dakota, potentially delaying or derailing key infrastructure.
Critics of the dismissed statute argue that forcing storage on dissenting landowners undermines long-standing property rights. Supporters of CCS counter that broad access to deep geological formations is essential if the U.S. is to meet ambitious emissions-reduction targets and scale storage capacity accordingly.
With additional lawsuits already filed against some storage permits connected to the Summit pipeline, regulators, companies and landowners now await clarity on what land rights, compensation and geological access will mean in practice.
Read more: Gevo And Biorecro To Commercialize CDR Credits From North Dakota Facility
