GUTHRIE COUNTY, Iowa – Emotions are running high in one Central Iowa county over the recent presence of carbon pipeline land surveyors. 

Members of the Guthrie County community are banding together and said they will do all they can to prevent the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project from passing through their properties.

“We go all the way to where you can see there would be a fence line down there,” said Angie Crowder, pointing out her property line near Guthrie Center. “It’s been in the family forever.”

Crowder’s front porch looks out over their generational property. She and her husband, Ken, have become increasingly unsettled over seeing land surveyors wearing orange vests walking across their field in recent days. The route for the proposed pipeline project would cut right through their property. Something they said has them worried about the project’s construction, its impact on property values, and safety risks.

“This is supposed to be our forever home, and I don’t know that I can say that, that this is going to be our forever home,” she told WHO-13. 

Summit Carbon Solutions states on its website that it has reached agreements with more than 2,700 landowners encompassing nearly 4,500 parcels of land. However, the Crowders are not alone in Guthrie County in their concerns. The recent presence of pipeline land surveyors has put numerous landowners there on edge. When a WHO-13 crew showed up to interview Crowder at her home on Tuesday afternoon, they were surprised to find more than two dozen locals had turned out wearing anti-pipeline garb to support her.

“There is no amount of money that is ever going to make me sign anything that they put in front of me unless it’s by force,” said Darlene Partlow.

Partlow lives in nearby Adair County, but said her land crosses into Guthrie. She and her son, as well as a collective of other neighbors, said they have been helping to keep tabs on the surveyors and their locations from day to day.

“They seem to think that because they sent them, they have permission, and they do not,” she said.

Partlow said the surveyors accessed her property after being asked not to. However, pipeline land surveyors are within their rights to access private property while conducting their surveys under Iowa Code 354.4A. The code states, in part, that a land surveyor may enter private land to “locate boundaries, rights-of-way, and easements, to determine geodetic positions, and to make surveys and maps.”

Surveyors are not allowed to enter buildings or other structures located on the land. They must be licensed under chapter 542B, or working under the direct supervision of a licensed land surveyor. The code states that their vehicles must be marked on the exterior by a legible sign listing the name, address, and telephone number of the land surveyor or the firm that employed the land surveyor. Surveyors should announce and identify themselves and their intentions before accessing private property and provide written notice to the landowner or tenant at least seven days before.

Some Guthrie County residents alleged that some of these stipulations were not followed. WHO-13 emailed a list of follow-up questions to Summit Carbon Solutions early Friday morning, but has not yet heard back.

An Iowa Supreme Court ruling over a Hardin County case in late 2024 also helped to pave the way for pipeline survey crews.

Earlier in the week, a spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions confirmed that they have numerous surveyors working in the field and that the crews are in the process of conducting multiple types of surveys.

A spokesperson provided the following statement on Tuesday:

“Our contracted surveyors are expected to remain respectful and professional at all times. For boundary surveys, our teams operate within the public road right-of-way. For civil surveys, they follow the proposed pipeline route. These surveys are essential to responsibly design and engineer a pipeline—ensuring accuracy, safety, and minimal impact. We follow the same legal framework that applies to all utilities in Iowa, as outlined in Iowa Code 354.4A, and have gone above the regulatory requirement by notifying landowners via certified mail.”

-Sabrina Ahmed Zenor, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Communications for Summit Carbon Solutions

However, Guthrie County residents are not letting go of their land without a fight.

“We’re exhausting every effort that we can,” said Candice Salvin.

WHO-13 cameras were rolling on Wednesday morning as a small group of Guthrie County residents joined landowners from several other impacted counties at the state Capitol to take their concerns to Governor Kim Reynolds. Governor Reynolds was not available, and the group provided their contact information and was told a meeting would be set up.

On Thursday, a new Guthrie County ordinance went into effect. Survey Permit Ordinance 25-38 establishes permit requirements for surveying certain parcels of land in the county.

WHO-13 also reached out to the Governor’s office to see if a meeting between the Governor and Guthrie County landowners had been scheduled, but did not hear back. The landowners said they had not heard from the Governor’s Office after their visit.

On its website, Summit Carbon Solutions states it is “committed to driving job growth across the Midwest, decarbonizing industrial processes and providing a substantial boost to the ethanol and agricultural industries,” which are critical to the U.S. economy. It includes a “Get the Facts” page and “Landowner FAQs” section, as well as other information regarding the proposed pipeline plan.