The North Dakota Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to reconsider a landowners’ lawsuit over the state’s carbon dioxide storage law, a case that could ripple across carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the Midwest.
The Northwest Landowners Association is challenging a 2009 state law that allows underground CO2 storage projects to move forward if 60% of affected landowners agree – a process known as amalgamation.
The group argues the law violates property rights by forcing unwilling landowners to accept CO2 storage beneath their land without full access to the courts to seek just compensation.
Last year, a district judge dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds, ruling the statute of limitations had expired. The Supreme Court disagreed, sending the case back to district court for review on its merits.
A Potential Precedent for Property Rights and Carbon Storage
The outcome could directly affect Summit Carbon Solutions’ $5.5 billion pipeline project, which aims to transport CO2 from ethanol plants in five states for underground storage in North Dakota.
Other energy companies, including Minnkota Power and Basin Electric, have joined the state in defending the law, warning that a ruling against amalgamation could stall CCS projects critical to North Dakota’s energy industry.
Attorney Derrick Braaten, representing the landowners, welcomed the decision: “It essentially clears all the procedural roadblocks for our primary challenge to the CO2 amalgamation lawsuit to move forward.”
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North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley defended the state’s position, saying the laws “respect the sanctity of private property rights and constitutionally balance the interests of all parties.”
With 92% of landowners already signed on to Summit’s 90,000-acre storage area, project backers argue the system ensures fairness and efficiency. But critics say the case is about constitutional rights, not opposition to Summit.
The district court will now revisit the landowners’ claims, with the potential to shape not just Summit’s project but future rulings on underground gas storage laws in the state.
Read more: South Dakota Landowners Urge Rep. Johnson To Oppose Pipeline Permitting Measure
