OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Steve King, the former congressman known for die-hard conservative views, and a staff member for the left-leaning environmental group, Sierra Club, are among the Iowans who received cease and desist letters from Summit Carbon Solutions.
- The carbon capture pipeline company accused King of making false and defamatory statements.
- Brian Jorde — an Omaha attorney who represents some of the landowners opposed to the pipeline — said he's seen some of the letters. He believes "they're designed to intimidate."
- King called the letter a "bully tactic."
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel with an interesting update on the ongoing debate over whether or not to allow a private company to build a Carbon Capture pipeline through miles and miles of private Iowa farmland.
I've learned that the company behind the project is sending cease and desist letters to outspoken opponent, in a move that a local attorney is calling a scare tactic.
"... I just read the first paragraph and my wife said it took me three minutes before I stopped laughing before I could read the rest of it," said former Congressman Steve King.
One of the reasons I find this story interesting: this issue has placed historical political opposites like the left-leaning Sierra Club to former U.S. Representative and staunch conservative, Steve King, on the same side.
A bolded sentence in the letter sent to Kingreads: "Your statements about Summit Agricultural Group and Summit Carbon Solutions are false and defamatory."
"It's just a bully tactic is what it is," said King.
I reviewed the letters with Omaha-based attorney Brian Jorde.
"Well, first and foremost these are designed to intimidate," he said.
I reached out to Summit by phone and email but haven't heard back as of my deadline. The company has maintained that its preference is not to use eminent domain and its goal is to get "100% voluntary" participation from landowners.
Even Montgomery County supervisors mentioned the threat of lawsuits last week as they weighed whether to regulate where the pipelines should be placed near homes.
King says Summit lawyers are taking his words out of context.
"So, I'm just sure that we could take any six sentences that you said today and put something together like that, full of quotes and ellipses, and they could be pulled from anywhere," he said.
As of now, it's not clear what comes next for this project. Because it spans several great plains states, the permitting process has been held up for various reasons. So, for the time being, I'll keep an eye on this story as it develops.
