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Brookings County advisory group backs effort to coordinate CO2 pipeline setbacks with neighboring counties
Summary
Committee members reviewed setback examples from nearby counties and urged development of unified ordinance language so neighboring counties use comparable criteria and justifications when regulating CO2 pipeline siting.
Robert Hill called the Brookings County CO2 Pipeline Advisory Committee to order at 9:02 AM on July 8, 2025 to review a table of setback distances compiled from neighboring counties. Hill presented setback figures from Lincoln, Moody, Brown, Spink, Edmunds and McPherson Counties and asked members to consider consistency across the pathway.
Several members, including Randy Jensen and Mark Potthast, urged a common approach. Jensen said the county had been "bombarded with CAFOs" in the past and wanted Brookings County to be "ahead of the game" on pipeline setbacks. Potthast and Jensen both recommended aligning county criteria so landowners along the pipeline corridor would face consistent rules.
County Commissioner Kelly VanderWal and other members agreed to pursue cooperative language. Hill suggested raising the topic at an upcoming Conference of County Commissioners to solicit feedback from other counties. The committee set a goal for draft ordinance verbiage to be ready for further review at its next meeting on Aug. 7, 2025.
