In a recent interview, North Dakota State Senator Jeff Magrum details many citizen, landowner and taxpayer issues related to the Midwest Carbon Express, Summit Carbon Solutions and a small group in leadership roles seemingly pulling many of the strings with the newly developing carbon management industry.
“When I ran for legislature, my stance was the inalienable rights - which is life, liberty, and property,” State senator Magrum said. “And that's based on the North Dakota legislature declaration number one that says our job is to protect life, liberty, and property. And that's what I do.”
He continued explaining how the state historically has been on the side of citizens and property owners over out-of-state-billionaires and government intrusion.
“Property rights are the number one right and the cornerstone right of all rights,” state senator Magrum said. “Because it's the only place when you're on your property, it's the only place that you're totally free to use all of your rights. You're only truly free on your land.”
After a brief history of Magrum’s political career and context, he explained how he was introduced to the controversial carbon pipeline project in North Dakota.
“Three years ago, my neighbor contacted me and asked if I was going to a pipeline meeting up at municipal golf course in Bismarck,” state senator Magrum said. “And I told her I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. So she forwarded an email from Summit Carbon Solutions that they were having a landowner meeting in Bismarck, ironically, the pipeline was originally intended to come within a half a mile of my house.”
This immediately caught Magrum’s attention for a variety of reasons.
“She (The landowner) couldn't go to the meeting and she asked me if I would attend for her, so I did as well as my son," state senator Magrum said. "We went up to the meeting and listened to this Wade Boeshans and another guy, I don't remember his name, that made a presentation about the proposed pipeline, which was all a big surprise to us.”
He continued explaining how not only was he and his county caught off guard, but so was his son in another county.
“My son, at that time, was an Emmons’ county commission, and he had no idea about it,” state senator Magrum said. “None of us did. I as a state legislator, had no idea about it.”
State senator continued describing the aggressive push for this carbon pipeline and their tactics that confused and contorted information while controlling the narrative with the state.
According to Magrum, the state of North Dakota is generally a “pipeline friendly” state, however, the ruthless, unethical and disrespectful behavior from the company and state leadership has steered this project into pipeline purgatory.
“A lot of times what they'll do, like when I was county commissioner, if there's a proposed project, like the Dakota Access Pipeline for example,” state senator Magrum said. “They sent out a person well in advance of any public meetings and asked for the blessing of the county commission, the county and I mean, they all came, they all came way ahead of even going out to talk to landowners.”
According to Summit Carbon Solutions' website, the project will capture carbon dioxide at more than 57 facilities in five states across the Midwest and then transport it through a pipeline to North Dakota for “permanent storage” in an underground rock formation in North Dakota.
In addition to needing approval for the pipeline, the company needs permits from the North Dakota Industrial Commission for three underground storage facilities in Oliver and Mercer counties.
Summit’s Midwest Carbon Express pipeline, if completed, will have the capacity to transport 18.5 million metric tons of CO2 annually and receive billions of direct cash subsidies in the process.
Magrum explains this is another issue with the carbon pipeline - direct cash subsidies rather than carbon credits.
“They get paid no matter what,” state senator Magrum said. “It’s really just a money grab for the guaranteed cash in my opinion. It’s just another way to profit off the Green New Deal and Green Agenda at the behest of the taxpayers, land owners and private property rights.”
Neighboring state South Dakota has seen a rise in citizen grassroots pushback against corporate interests and Summit Carbon Solution’s public private abuse. According to Dakota News Watch, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission has not received a timetable on when the carbon pipeline application might come, which is common so staff can prepare for public meetings.
South Dakota state officials recently validated the referendum Senate Bill 201, known as the “Landowner Bill of Rights”, for the Nov. 5, 2024, general election, enabling voters to decide whether to reject a package of regulations approved by the Legislature earlier this year.
The law takes away authority from local governments and consolidates it with the three-member state Public Utilities Commission.
In Iowa, a recent permit approval by the Iowa Utilities Commission to construct an underground carbon pipeline sparked the beginning of a new process for an additional route. On June 25th, the Iowa Utilities Commission approved Summit’s permit to build a 688 mile underground pipeline to capture liquid carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to an underground storage facility in North Dakota.
Summit’s application for the original CO2 pipeline in Iowa has not yet been fully approved. It is conditional until several regulatory requirements have been met, such as road and river crossing permits and the approval to use five-billion gallons of water annually in the Carbon Capture and Sequestration process.
More importantly, the Iowa Utilities Commission ruled that Summit cannot begin construction in Iowa until it has obtained permits in North Dakota and South Dakota.
Other items and issues from the 2-hour interview:
A recent letter to the editor uncovered that a small group of ND Republicans have been working on this project for 15 years, opening up serious transparency questions, insider trading examples and public private corruption.
The number 6. State senator Magrum discloses his Christian concerns over the amount of “sixes” involved in this project, from pipeline payouts from Summit to monetary amounts offered to Governor Doug Burgum’s cell number. Spiess added to senator Magrum’s numerology observations by inserting the atomic number of Carbon - which is 666 - six electrons six neutrons and six protons. He also added how our currency seems to becoming based on a carbon footprint as well, which means carbon will control the currency and bartering mechanisms for the planet.
Transparency is a theme throughout the entire interview. From who the owners are in Summit Carbon Solutions to whether current ND Public Service Commissioner Julie Fdorchek bought her land 12 years ago on top of the carbon storage cavity was by accident or by insider trading.
China’s major investment into the carbon pipeline and their partnership with billionaires Harold Hamm and Bruce Rastetter; along with other foreign investments with ND’s group of political insiders controlling the state’s political offices and media narrative.
State senator Magrum would like to pass a law that changes how lobbyists interact with policy makers and even limits where they can go during session.
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ND State Senator Magrum Details Citizen, Landowner and Taxpayer Complaints with Summit Carbon Solutions