Keystone XL Pipeline

Hundreds of landowners in eastern South Dakota are watching closely to see where two proposed carbon-dioxide pipelines will be built between now and 2025. Landowners with prior experience with underground pipeline construction say the process is invasive to their land and their lives, can prevent future development of their land and carries the potential for leakage of a dangerous chemical.

Two proposed multi-billion dollar underground carbon dioxide pipelines that would run more than 500 miles in South Dakota have drawn strong landowner interest and opposition. But the pipeline projects have also brought to light a fundamental debate over whether carbon capture and sequestration technology is worth the immense investment and risks, and if it is the right approach to reducing carbon emissions and slowing global climate change. Part 1 of a two-part South Dakota News Watch series.

Eight major wind farms were approved in South Dakota in a recent 13-month period and two more are being considered by regulators. The rush of wind energy projects is driven by a need for more electricity, a lucrative federal tax credit, construction of two major power transmission lines and a push toward renewable energies.

Camps to house up to 1,400 Keystone XL Pipeline workers will open in rural South Dakota soon. The influx of population worries some officials in neighboring small communities. But the pipeline expansion also will contribute significant money to counties, cities and businesses along the route.

State law could force counties in pipeline route to pay a large share of any protest costs before the state would help. Some counties' bills could reach as high as several million dollars, leading one official to say a significant protest could 'bankrupt' small counties.