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(Omaha, NE) -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is considering arguments in a lawsuit involving Ames-based Summit Carbon Solutions and Shelby and Story counties of Iowa. The lawsuit originally came about after the counties put ordinances into place which regulated the proximity of hazardous liquid pipelines to residences and requirements for emergency response plans in case of a rupture.
Ryan Koopmans is representing the company.
"The law is clear that safety standards are left to the secretary of the Department of Transportation," Koopmans argues. "And in this case, the setback requirements and other provisions are clearly safety standards."
But the counties argue they have the power to put the regulations in place. Jason Craig is representing them.
"I think any location standard is outside the secretary's authority," Craig says. "That's left to the state and local government. Under Iowa law, counties and municipalities have broad authority to act unless the legislature has expressly limited their authority."
The lower court ruled in favor of Summit, and it was brought to the appeals court by the counties. It's at least the third lawsuit regarding the proposed pipeline. Summit is awaiting results after presenting arguments to the Iowa Supreme Court in October in a case involving a landowner. There's also a lawsuit against Bremer County on similar terms.