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DES MOINES, IOWA — Hundreds of Iowans across 29 counties could be forced to turn over thousands of acres of their land via eminent domain for the construction of a privately-owned pipeline to carry industrial waste out of the state after a unanimous decision on Tuesday from a board of Governor Kim Reynolds’ appointees. The announcement from the Iowa Utilities Board comes after years of court actions, protests from landowners and repeated failures by the Iowa Legislature to agree on a bill to protect Iowans’ land from eminent domain. However, the project still has major hurdles before breaking ground.

The Summit Carbon Pipeline is a massive five-state project of thousands of miles of underground pipelines connecting industrial sites – including power plants and ethanol facilities – to carry carbon dioxide waste to be stored deep beneath the earth in North Dakota. The company behind the pipeline has claimed the pipeline will be environmentally safe and minimally disruptive to landowners. On Tuesday, IUB agreed.

“After weighing numerous factors for and against Summit Carbon’s petition, the Board found that the service to be provided by Summit Carbon will promote the public convenience and necessity,” the IUB announced in a statement.

The board’s decision does not mean Summit will be starting construction anytime soon. The IUB decision puts the Iowa project on hold until the next two steps in the pipeline – in South Dakota and North Dakota – are approved.

The board’s full 500+ page report can be found here.