BOLD Nebraska

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 28, 2026

Radio Ad Features 911 Call From CO2 Pipeline Rupture, Warns Nebraska Landowners of Safety and Eminent Domain Threats From Summit Carbon Pipeline

Ad running across Nebraska documents 2020 CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia, MS that caused evacuations, hospitalizations and lingering health impacts to this day

Hastings, NE – A new 60-second radio ad sponsored by Bold and Nebraska landowners opposed to Summit Carbon’s risky CO2 pipeline proposed to traverse the state features a 911 call recording from a 2020 carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi that caused evacuations, hospitalizations and lingering health impacts to this day.

In the radio ad – that began running last week on stations across Nebraska – the narrator describes what happened during the 2020 incident in Satartia, MS where a carbon pipeline operated by Denbury Resources ruptured, causing an explosive release of carbon in an immense plume, which was later found by a government-issued report to be toxic for more than a mile from the site of the rupture. A video version of the ad will also run as an ad on Facebook across Nebraska counties that may be impacted by the proposed Summit pipeline.

The ad then features a 911 recording from a Satartia victim who is very concerned and confused about what is happening after her car has stalled – a direct result of the high CO2 concentration making the combustion engine nonfunctional – and her friend is having what she believes is a seizure, as CO2 is an asphyxiant.

After facing insurmountable obstacles to obtaining permits for its CO2 pipeline in South Dakota and North Dakota, Summit earlier this year announced a pivot of its troubled business plan, and instead now intends to route its proposed CO2 pipeline across the entire state of Nebraska, with Wyoming as a new final destination for the CO2 waste dumps. Summit would need eminent domain to seize landowners’ property across Nebraska for the dangerous carbon pipeline.

Already in Nebraska, Stanton County voted unanimously to deny a conditional use permit to Summit for its proposed pipeline, while Dakota County tabled and subsequently removed a pipeline permit request from its official agenda. More recently, Logan County, McPherson County and Red Willow County approved 12-month moratoriums on projects that include CO2 pipelines, and Hitchcock County has considered a similar moratorium. Meanwhile, counties including Antelope, and Holt have taken action to adapt local zoning rules, and enact conditional provisions on any possible permits for Summit.

“The pipeline company and their investors are using this unproven and hazardous idea as a tax scam and will try to take our land for their own private gain. The safety questions go unanswered by the pipelines’ representatives, but they continue to state their pipelines are going to be “different” than the one that exploded in Satartia. The farmer and landowner takes all the risk – including the risk of explosion and death of all living beings in the path of the plume,” said Shelli Meyer, Nebraska Director for Bold Alliance and impacted landowner on a century farm in Dixon County, Nebraska.

“South Dakota said no to Summit’s carbon capture scheme. North Dakota said no. Iowans are saying no. It’s time for Nebraskans to say no too. Our land, our water, our rights are more important than the greed-fueled desires of an out-of-state corporation and its foreign investors.” said Emma Schmit, Organizing Director at Bold Alliance.

Bold is currently collecting signatures on a petition urging Nebraskans to support a bill in the legislature in the coming year to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. Bold also recently launched another petition in response to recent applications to permit carbon injection well waste dumps in western Nebraska counties, a new threat of contamination to the Ogallala aquifer and our groundwater resources.

The new petition also targets Nebraska’s pending application to the U.S. EPA to take over “primacy” of these sequestration wells, and instead authorize the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment to handle both permitting and monitoring of risks from the highly-pressurized gas injected underground, supposedly forever.

View the video version of the ad running on Facebook:

About Bold’s Easement Action Teams:
The Easement Action Teams are a project of the Bold Education Fund. The EATs work with local communities to provide immediate legal representation to landowners facing pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Our first priority is to protect landowners’ property rights and water. We believe landowners should have the ultimate right of what does and does not happen on their land. We stand against the use of eminent domain for private gain. (https://easementteams.org) The first landowners legal co-op formed was the Nebraska Easement Action Team, which successfully organized landowners to fight the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, and currently works with landowners fighting carbon pipelines in the state. (https://neeasement.org)

About Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub:
The Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub, a project of the Bold Education Fund, provides technical, legal, story telling and organizing assistance to any community fighting pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, with the goal of protecting the land and water. (https://pipelinefighters.org)

About Bold:
The Bold Alliance and Bold Education Fund are coordinating state-based groups with our Pipeline Fighters Hub and landowner legal groups called the Easement Action Teams to stop pipelines from using eminent domain for private gain. (https://boldalliance.org)

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The post Radio Ad Features 911 Call From CO2 Pipeline Rupture, Warns Nebraska Landowners of Safety and Eminent Domain Threats From Summit Carbon Pipeline appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

It’s not the same companies or exactly the same route this time, but their playbook will still be to use eminent domain to seize farmers’ property to build a dangerous tarsands pipeline that is all risk and no reward, a threat to our land and water. Join us Nov. 19 for a virtual meeting to learn about your rights as a landowner, and how we can stop this risky project. We will reawaken the NoKXL coalition and inform Pipeline Fighters and Water Protectors about this new proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the country.

• WHAT: How We Stopped the Keystone XL Pipeline (and Will Do It Again)
• WHO: Speakers will include veterans of the fight to stop Keystone XL (2009 – present)
• WHEN: Thursday Nov. 19, 6:00 p.m. CT
• WHERE: Click this link to join at 6pm on Nov. 19: bit.ly/keystone-pipeline
• JOIN BY PHONE: 312-626-6799 (Meeting ID: 862 0389 2831)

We’ll share the history of how we stopped the Keystone XL pipeline before, and how we’re going to do it again.

Seasoned veterans from the NoKXL fight will provide an analysis of the viability of the new pipeline proposal, and the current legal and regulatory landscape. We’ll talk about actions that we will be taking, and that you can take in your own communities, from landowner and Indigenous organizing, to gathering petition signatures and submitting public comments, and potential litigation.

The post Nov. 19 (Webinar): How We Stopped the Keystone XL Pipeline (and Will Do It Again) appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

Top Reasons to Oppose CO2 Injection Wells in Nebraska:

• Property Rights
• CO2 Leaks and Safety
• Drinking Water Endangerment
• Aquifer Contamination Risks
• Increased Energy Costs
• 45Q Tax Credit $$$ Giveaway

The “Carbon Capture” Scheme

• Can seek to use eminent domain to acquire “pore space” underneath landowners’ property to inject CO2 under their homes
• CO2 is a toxic asphyxiant. A pipeline rupture can spread a lethal plume of CO2 over two miles, displacing oxygen.
• CO2 can escape along injection or monitoring wells, abandoned wells, or through cracks in the caprock. There is no guarantee that CO2 can be permanently sequestered for hundreds of years without it leaking. If it leaks, it can contaminate drinking water with heavy metals.
• CCS increases water use by up to 55% for each capture site. Much of this is used for cooling
• Carbon capture requires 13-44% more energy, increasing electricity costs by 25-50%
• CCS requires tax credits (“45Q”) in order to be economically viable, equating to hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars given away

Bold Alliance was an original signatory to a 2024 letter, “EPA Must Immediately Stop CO2 Injection Wells to Protect Public Safety and Drinking Water,” that calls on EPA to suspend permits for injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) underground, permitting of new CO2 injection wells, approval of primacy applications for CO2 injection wells, and to direct states with primacy over injection wells to halt injections and permitting of wells.

Our demands in the letter stemmed from:

1) multiple leaks of CO2 and equipment failures at the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) facility in Decatur, Illinois;

2) new information about an increase in non-compliance violations in Texas Class II wells starting in 2011;

3) a higher percentage of Class II Texas CO2 injection wells that have failed one or more mechanical integrity tests when these wells are compared to other Class II wells; and

4) findings at EPA that steel used for well construction at the ADM site, and others around the country, is prone to corrosion in CO2 injection wells.

The events at the ADM facility have brought to light systemic problems with CCS technology and its regulation, raising serious concerns that CCS is neither safe nor viable. Reported failures at monitoring and detection systems due to corrosion and the migration of CO2 outside the intended storage zone expose multiple levels of failure. What is perhaps more concerning is that EPA has identified that injection wells around the country have the same design and material flaws that led to corrosion at at least one of ADM’s leaking wells, raising concerns that CO2 injection wells could very well be leaking significant quantities of CO2 into groundwater and the atmosphere.

Aquifer & Drinking Water Contamination

The threat to drinking water and public health posed by CO2 injection wells cannot be overstated given that leaks from the injection of CO2 into underground saline formations can migrate into overlying freshwater aquifers and be released into the atmosphere.

Once CO2 dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the water, eroding and corroding rock and well equipment, and mobilizing toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. These metals are particularly concerning for drinking water sources near injection sites.

CO2 Pipeline & Equipment Ruptures

The release of CO2 into the atmosphere adversely impacts our climate. Even at relatively low concentrations, it can impair cognitive, cardiovascular, neurologic, hearing, and vision function through asphyxiation and toxicity as was, in part, demonstrated by a CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi that sent dozens of people to the hospital and highlighted the challenges to first responders needing to respond to CO2 releases into the atmosphere.

Earthquakes

Another serious concern associated with CO2 sequestration is induced seismicity from injecting CO2 underground, which can cause fractures and re-activate faults, either of which can result in additional pathways for CO2 migration.

Scientists have expressed concern that injecting larger volumes of CO2, at higher pressures and for longer duration associated with CCS has an even higher probability of inducing earthquakes. But, U.S. EPA Class VI permitting does not address induced earthquakes.

Lack of Proper Regulation & Oversight

In combination with malfunctioning equipment, the injections can create unpredictable and widespread impacts from leaks on the water we drink and the air we breathe. EPA’s oversight of carbon dioxide injection wells is lacking in general, and is highlighted by the lack of transparency and oversight relating to these well failures.

These concerns are not limited to Class VI wells like the one operated by ADM, but extend to Class II wells, a much larger universe of thousands of potential injection sites across the country used to extract oil. The practice of injecting CO2 into these wells carries many of the same risks associated with Class VI wells used for CCS; however, the regulations governing Class II wells are less stringent, posing an even greater risk of leaks.

The risks associated with carbon capture and storage, particularly the injection of CO2 into Class II and Class VI wells, are too great to ignore. The recent events at the ADM facility in Decatur are a warning sign that current regulatory practices are inadequate.

45Q Tax Credit for Carbon Capture is an $800 Billion Giveaway

A blank check that increases the federal deficit: The 45Q program that is the financial lynchpin for these Carbon Capture and Storage projects has no financial cap making it an unlimited tax dollar giveaway. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis studied announced CCS projects and found that, if all these projects are constructed, 45Q tax credit claims between now and 2042 would total approximately $835 billion. If Congress extends the 45Q tax credit to allow continued use of these facilities beyond their first 12 years of operation, the total call on federal dollars could be in the trillions.

Nebraska Seeking “Primacy” From U.S. EPA to Regulate CO2 Injection Wells

Nebraska has applied to the U.S. EPA to take over the regulation, including granting of permits and monitoring of CO2 injection wells in the state. If the EPA grants Nebraska’s application, that would mean the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy & Environment (DWEE NE) would instead be tasked with oversight of the entire process.

CO2 Threats to Nebraska: Aquifer Contamination

There are currently applications pending for carbon injection wells in some far western Nebraska panhandle counties, a location that also includes the High Plains Aquifer and secondary aquifers:

CO2 Threats to Nebraska: Earthquakes

University of Nebraska: Seismicity in Nebraska and adjacent states: The historical perspective and current trends

“A sudden spike in earthquake events has been observed in central Nebraska. Since April 2018, 26 earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes from 2.7 to 4.1 occurred, clustered tightly in Custer County. A similar cluster of 24 earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes from 2.6 to 3.7 occurred in Jewell County in northern Kansas in 2017. We have compiled an earthquake database for Nebraska and parts of adjacent states from different sources to determine whether these recent earthquake spikes are consistent with historic seismicity. We identified two historic earthquake clusters occurring in our study area. The first contained 32 events and was active in Red Willow County in southwestern Nebraska from 1977 to 1982. As it coincides spatially with the Sleepy Hollow oil field, it may be related to enhanced oil recovery from that field, although it is also located at the edge of the Chadron-Cambridge Arch. The second historical earthquake cluster is located in Pawnee and Richardson counties in southwestern Nebraska and includes eight earthquakes with equivalent moment magnitudes of 2.3 to 2.8 that occurred in a period from 1982 to 1989 over the Nemaha uplift and appear to be related to the Humboldt fault. We note an increase in both maximum magnitude, as well as in the cumulative seismic moment per cluster with time.”

Induced Earthquakes
Injection of CO2 also can induce earthquakes large enough to damage the wellbore or break the caprock. We know injecting produced water from oil and gas production far below groundwater or aquifers causes earthquakes:

• 5.2 M earthquake in TX in November 2023, the 4th largest in the state.
• At least 10 earthquakes occurred in OK on the same day in January 2024, the largest of which was 4.3.

Scientists have expressed concern that injecting larger volumes of CO2, at higher pressures and for longer duration associated with CCS has an even higher probability of inducing earthquakes. But, U.S. EPA Class VI permitting does not address induced earthquakes.

Abandoned wells – another path for leakage
There are thousands of oil and gas wells across central and southern Illinois. This map shows only “orphaned wells” – unplugged wells – which total over 4,000.  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says they believe there are more than 32,000 oil & gas wells in Illinois, but acknowledges they don’t know where all of them are:

• Old wells can provide a pathway for CO2 to escape containment and rise to the surface.
• Even “plugged wells” are at risk – carbonic acid can erode cement.

An old well released CO2 near a Wyoming school in 2017, requiring evacuation & school shutdown for months.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Supercritical CO2 is highly pressurized. Once injected underground, it moves both laterally and vertically, putting pressure on weak spots of the containment area.

We don’t have a lot of history to show success:

• It took 27 years before a CCS project in Norway began to leak and cause concern 

• ADM has been sequestering CO2 for 12 years, but it is a small project storing an average of just 420,000 tons each year since 2016 (less than 1/2 of what was promised).

Projects in Illinois now being reviewed by the U.S. EPA are nearly 100 times the size of ADM’s Decatur project. One Earth Sequestration LLC’s application shows it’s project would be 23 times the size.

How can we be sure CO2 won’t leak? We can’t.

The post Don’t Let Nebraska Become a CO2 Waste Dump appeared first on Bold Nebraska.

Bold is offering local organizers the opportunity to host their own phone banks for our endorsed candidates, and providing our hosts with a “Phonebank ToGo” kit that includes t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and gift cards to buy snacks for your phone bankers!

Fill out the form below to organize your Phonebank ToGo and Bold will arrange to drop off your supply basket. 

Phonebank ToGo Supply Kit includes: 

• Instructions
• Invitation graphic to share on social media
• BOLD Shirts for you and your pals
• Gift card for Dinner and or Snacks
• Gift Card for Butterfly Bakery
• Stickers and Pencils
• Thank you gift for the PhoneBank ToGo Host

How to Organize Your Phonebank ToGo:

1. Choose a BOLD Endorsed Candidate to host a phonebank for:
   Brian Seck
   SuAnn Witt
   Rick Vest
   George Dungan
   Sean Flowerday
   Jess Goldoni
   Carol Blood
   Sara Kohen
   Cindy Johnson
   Cindy Maxwell Ostdiek
2. Pick your date and time!
3. Invite your friends. (This is a virtual phone bank, so you can phone bank from anywhere.)
4. Submit t-shirt sizes for you and all your volunteers on the form
5. We will deliver your PhoneBank ToGo supply basket

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The post Be a BOLD Volunteer: Host a Phonebank appeared first on Bold Nebraska.