Guest post: Stand against pipeline to protect Iowa’s natural resources

Iowa towns, farmland, and natural resources shouldn’t be a playground for corporate power.

I heard from fellow Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement members in Worth County their board of supervisors recently passed an ordinance that enacts common-sense protections from hazardous liquid pipelines. That’s the eleventh county to pass an ordinance pushing back against Summit’s proposed CO2 pipeline.

What exciting and encouraging news!

Worth County’s ordinance creates a half-mile separation distance between a pipeline and residents of the county. When I spoke with CCI member Ann Bokelman from Hanlontown, she told me this gives folks a fighting chance to protect their homes and communities from Summit just bulldozing them over—and if the pipeline is built and a rupture occurs, a fighting chance to make it to safety.

And, boy, did folks up there put in the work to make this happen.

Another CCI member from Hanlontown, Roxanne Jackson, shared with me how folks went door-to-door informing others about the issue. They collected over 400 petition signatures in favor of the ordinance and attended countless meetings to keep the pressure up.

“Decisions about what our community looks like should be made by us, not multimillion-dollar corporations like Summit Carbon Solutions,” Jackson said.

Sometimes people ask me why I care so much about this proposed pipeline when it’s not even coming through Adair County. I tell them about its potential impact on our aquifers and how that could have statewide impacts during a drought. Or I tell them about how it’ll use taxpayer money—our money—merely to line Bruce Rastetter’s pockets through state or federal incentives.

But, equally important, it’s about what sort of precedent it would set if they’re allowed to abuse eminent domain for private gain. Who would be the next corporate vulture to come into one of our communities, promise us the moon, use eminent domain where needed to achieve their goal, only to leave us in a cloud of dust?

I’ve seen the hollowing out of rural Iowa by corporate power running roughshod over our communities, values, and way of life. For me, it started when large-scale factory farms began popping up only to pollute our air and water and drive family farmers out of business. More recently, I’ve seen it in our shuttered drug stores no thanks to the unbridled greed of pharmacy benefit managers.

Enough is enough. Our towns, farmland, and natural resources aren’t a playground for corporate power. That’s why I’m happy about the news coming out of Worth County and I hope more counties continue to follow suit—especially if Bruce Rastetter and other agribusiness fat cats continue to pull the strings at the statehouse and governor’s mansion.

Iowans deserve to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to making decisions about what we want our communities to look like and what kind of development helps our towns and counties grow and thrive. And that’s why folks across the state are taking action, step by step, county by county. Our homes, neighbors, and livelihoods—the people and places we love—are worth it.

Barb Kalbach is a fourth-generation family farmer, retired registered nurse, and board member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. She can be reached at [email protected].