When it comes to the construction and operations of our system, there are important steps we are taking to maximize safety.

• During construction and operations, Summit Carbon Solutions will only utilize highly rated materials including the use of American-made high strength steel that is designed to accommodate the anticipated pressure of the material moving through the pipeline

• PHMSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has rigorous and comprehensive rules on the construction and operation of pipeline systems such as this. And having said that, Summit Carbon Solutions is going above and beyond those requirements in several important areas. For example,

• • PHMSA requires that pipelines are placed three feet underground. Summit Carbon Solutions will place our line at least four feet deep. 

• • PHMSA requires X-Rays of 10% of the welds connecting the pipeline. Summit Carbon Solutions will X-Ray 100% of the welds to assure they are completed correctly. 

• • PHMSA requires that any pipeline must have at least a one-foot clearance from the pipe and other underground structures. Summit Carbon Solutions will have two feet as our standard practice, with the exception of drain tile. 

• • Summit Carbon Solutions selected a route that maximizes distance from structures, especially dwellings.  PHMSA requires 50-foot setbacks from existing dwellings.

• Summit Carbon Solutions will maintain an operations center in Ames that will monitor the system 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year including all holidays. This control center, which will include the latest in leak detection technologies, will automatically alert our operators of any change in pressures or flows and provide us with the ability to shut the system down rapidly in the unlikely event of a loss of containment. 

The Summit Carbon Solutions project will be the first large scale project designed and constructed compliant with PHMSA’a new rule (2020) reducing mainline block valve spacing to a maximum of 20-miles.