DES MOINES, IA – Navigator CO2 wants to suspend its pipeline permit process in Iowa until utility regulators in Illinois approve the project, according to a motion it filed in Iowa.

The company wants to build a carbon dioxide pipeline system that would transport the captured greenhouse gas from ethanol plants and other facilities to Illinois, where it will be sequestered underground or used for other commercial purposes.

About 810 miles of the initially proposed system lies in Iowa, but the company said it is adjusting its plans after a setback in South Dakota.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commissiondenied Navigator a permit to construct its pipeline in early September. Since then, the company has indicated that it is not negotiating for new land easements in that state and in part of Iowa.

Navigator filed a motion with the Iowa Utilities Board on Friday to cancel a scheduling conference that was set for Oct. 9, withdraw its motion to establish a procedural schedule and to pause its permit proceedings.

“Navigator is currently reviewing its Iowa route and technical specifications in light of decisions from regulatory authorities in neighboring states and individual landowner requests, which may lead to necessary revisions in Iowa,” Navigator said in a prepared statement. “Being conscious of the time and resources of all parties to this proceeding, Navigator has withdrawn the proposed procedural schedule with the Iowa Utilities Board.”

The company plans to file an update on its project with the board by the end of March. Illinois regulators are expected to make a final decision on the project by the end of February.

The Friday motion is a substantial shift from the company’s plans two months ago, whenit was working hard for the IUB to finalize a schedule. At the time, it sought to start its final evidentiary hearing in June 2024.

The company is one of three that have proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects in Iowa. Summit Carbon Solutions, which also had its permit rejected recently in South Dakota, recently concluded its sixth week of testimony for its evidentiary hearing and has said it wants a decision by the end of the year. Wolf Carbon Solutions petitioned for a permit in February, but its process has had little progress since, according to IUB filings.

 

PIERRE, SD – South Dakotans who rely on food stamps missed out on $100 million for groceries because the state declared an end to the COVID-19 emergency while federal funding was still available, according to an analysis prepared by the state Legislative Research Council and obtained by News Watch.

Gov. Kristi Noem decided in July 2021 that South Dakota had recovered enough from the pandemic and ended the formal emergency far earlier than most other states. That prevented the state from taking the estimated $103 million in additional emergency funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) available until March 2023.

The estimate is likely low because emergency allotment totals rose as more people qualified for SNAP benefits in early 2021, the LRC analysis said.

Thirty-two other states took the funding until the program ended. South Dakota was one of the first states to end its state of emergency and stop taking the money for food to low-income residents, people with disabilities and families with children.

According to amounts from the final month South Dakota took the emergency funding, about 34,600 households lost out on an average of $150 per month over those 19 months.

Critics of Noem’s decision — including a South Dakota lawmaker, grocer and food stamp recipient — said it prevented low-income families and individuals from buying more food during the lingering months of the pandemic. It also denied grocery retailers millions of dollars in revenue, they said.

But Noem’s communications director, Ian Fury, said the governor concluded the state economy had “fully recovered” from the pandemic and that a state of emergency was no longer needed.

The unemployment rate had fallen to pre-pandemic levels, the tourism industry had rebounded and “our COVID peak was long in the rearview mirror,” he wrote in an email to News Watch.

“This spending was not necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fury wrote.

 

PARKER, SD – A 26-year-old Parker man, Phillip Delaney, has entered a guilty plea to one count of First-Degree Manslaughter in connection with the 2022 death of a baby.

Originally facing multiple charges, including Second-Degree Murder and Aggravated Battery of an Infant, Delaney had his charges reduced as part of a plea agreement.

The State dropped the charges of Second-Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery of an Infant, and one count of First-Degree Manslaughter.

Delaney’s sentencing hearing is set for January 22.

 

SIOUX FALLS, SD – There’s been a change of plea for one of the suspects in the murder of a Sioux Falls man.

Monday in court, 19-year-old Soteemon Poley pleaded guilty to manslaughter. In exchange for his plea, a murder charge was dropped.

On the night of August 16th, 2022, on South Duluth Avenue, Paul Billion died of a single gunshot wound to the torso.

He died sitting on his kitchen floor. His dad would find his body three days later. Police eventually arrested Gbo Yuoh, Thomas Tarley, and Soteemon Poley on first-degree murder charges.

In a plea deal with prosecutors Monday, Poley pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Instead of facing a possible life sentence, the prosecution has agreed to a cap of 50 years, in exchange Poley will also be required to cooperate with police and prosecutors.

Last December police told us why the three men went to Billion’s apartment that night.

“It appears that the root of this crime was drug-related, and this was a robbery that turned out differently than I’m guessing the robbers or Mr. Billion had suspected that this would end up,” said Sioux Falls Police Lt. Nick Butler.

In court it was revealed that after the robbery the suspects split the stash of marijuana that was taken from Billion’s apartment.  Prosecutors indicated that they believed Gbo Yuoh was the one who pulled the trigger.

Poley told the judge he heard the gunshot but did not see it because he was in another room. Yuoh and Thomas Tarley are due in court in December and after the first of the year.

Prosecutors told the judge nearby security cameras played a role in helping investigators track down the suspects.