Satartia pipeline rupture

Dan Zegart

You probably haven’t heard of Satartia, Mississippi. Dan Zegart knows it well. He’s a senior investigator with the Climate Investigations Center. He spent 19 months digging into the story of a carbon dioxide pipeline that ruptured near that town, sending 49 victims to the hospital.

Zegart’s article in HuffPost (READ IT HERE) describes how, “two dozen individuals were overcome within a few minutes, collapsing in their homes; at a fishing camp on the nearby Yazoo River; in their vehicles. Cars just shut off, since they need oxygen to burn fuel. Drivers scrambled out of their paralyzed vehicles, but were so disoriented that they just wandered around in the dark.”

Describing one of many rescue efforts, Zegart writes, “Inside the small red Cadillac sedan were three men: DeEmmeris and Andrew Burns, and Victor Lewis. DeEmmeris Burns lay across the backseat in the fetal position. The other two were slumped against the windows, white foam coming out of their noses and mouths, their clothes stained with urine and excrement. The firemen thought they were too late. …

“Even months later, the town’s residents reported mental fogginess, lung dysfunction, chronic fatigue and stomach disorders. They said they have trouble sleeping, afraid it could happen again.”

The fact that there were no fatalities is astounding. Equally astounding is that Denbury, the company responsible for the pipeline,“make[s] no mention of a pipeline accident or leak, the evacuation, the injuries to residents, or any other details,” in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Presently, there are 5,000 miles of CO2 pipeline in the US. Industry wants to expand that to 65,000! A proposal by Summit Climate Solutions before the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) includes over 700 miles of pipeline just in Iowa.

What happened in Satartia could easily happen to any of the hundreds of Iowa cities and farmsteads affected by the proposed Summit pipeline.

This week, at a public hearing about Summit’s proposal, I posed a question for Jimmy Powell, the company’s COO. Referencing Satartia, I asked, “What precautions will Summit be taking in case of a possible rupture.”

Powell’s response was dismissive. He blamed the poisoning of Satartia on hydrogen sulfide in the pipeline, saying, “We’ll have the purest form of CO2 available.” He added, “You breathe CO2 every day. It’s in the air.”

In the air? Maybe Powell hasn’t heard of – or prefers to ignore – the tragic incident in Cameroon in 1986, when an eruption of CO2 gas from Lake Nyos killed nearly 2,000 people and destroyed four villages.

A deadly CO2 pipeline accident is just one of my concerns about Summit’s proposal. What about the misuse of eminent domain? The impact on climate change? The amount of corporate welfare Summit would receive from taxpayers?

We’ll have to save those and other questions for future conversations.

If you’re inspired to make sure the unholy alliance of Big Business (Summit) and Big Government (IUB) doesn’t get a free pass en route to bringing to fruition another bad idea, I’ve got two more asks:

CALL TO ACTION #2: Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Share Satartia’s story. Ask Iowans along the proposed route to study the big picture before letting Summit obtain access to their land. Email me a copy of your letter at [email protected].

CALL TO ACTION #3: Bold Iowa will be monitoring the proposed CO2 pipeline closely. Stay abreast of developments on Bold Iowa’s websiteand Facebook page.

Thank you! — Ed Fallon

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CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

(01:51) CO2 pipeline sickens an entire town, with Dan Zegart;
(15:29) Climate delay is the new climate denial, with Charles Goldman;
(28:21) Science deniers on both sides of COVID debate, with Charles Goldman;
(42:19) Texas GOP and the Taliban find common ground, with Charles Goldman;
(54:47) American Gothic garden party, with Elaine Mattingly and Kathy Byrnes.

Here’s our conversation with Dan Zegart on YouTube.

Here’s Kathy’s YouTube conversation with Elaine Mattingly about the American Gothic garden party.

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Ed Fallon