North Dakota Judge Rules in Favor of Landowners

(Photo by Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – A district court judge sided with a landowner group and found a North Dakota law related to underground storage of carbon dioxide to be unconstitutional.

The ruling from Northeast Judicial District Judge Anthony Swain Benson could have implications for the controversial Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project, which has a carbon dioxide storage permit from the state.

The Northwest Landowners Association in 2023 sued North Dakota and the state Industrial Commission, which approves permits for permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide. The landowner group challenged a state law that requires landowners to allow carbon dioxide storage beneath their property if at least 60% of the affected landowners agree to the project.

Benson writes in his order that the state law is unconstitutional because it allows a government-authorized taking of property without an avenue for “just” compensation determined by a jury. In this case, the property is pore space – cavities in underground rock formations where emissions can be trapped.