Domina Law Group Managing Lawyer Brian Jorde was recently interviewed by Dakota News Now for a segment profiling the latest developments in ongoing litigation over the controversial Midwest Carbon Express pipeline. Jorde and Domina Law currently represent landowners in multiple states where the pipeline’s owner, Summit Carbon Solutions, has proposed construction.
As reported by Dakota News Now, new documentation submitted to the Iowa public utilities commission by an Iowa resident is now raising questions about foreign ownership connections to a South Korean firm that’s faced penalties for misconduct.
Specifically, the submission asks the Iowa public utilities commission to exercise due diligence in exploring Summit Carbon’s connections to SK Group, a South Korean firm that’s experienced troubles in its native country, and whether it’s part of SK Holdings Co. Lt., which has been listed on a Contractor Misconduct Database after it pleaded guilty to Government Fraud in 2018 and 2022 and was fined $68+ million by the DOJ.
Jorde, who has reviewed the new documents, says landowners have reason to be concerned about the possibility that Summit Carbon Solutions has questionable foreign financers.
“The South Korean entity has taken a 10% ownership in Summit carbon solutions. Is this who you want owning operating a pipeline through your state?”
In addition to foreign interest concerns, landowners are also raising questions about South Dakota Republican Party Chair Dan Lederman’s connections to Summit Carbon and a foreign nation. As Jorde told Dakota News Now:
“Lederman filed with the Department of Justice that he’s lobbying for the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, their embassy, getting paid ten grand a month to do that.”
Lederman, who recently attended a Brown County Commission meeting wearing a Summit Carbon Solutions shirt, had asked the commission to postpone a pipeline moratorium intended to give landowners more time to obtain information about the proposed project. The commission ultimately approved the moratorium despite Lederman’s request.
View the full segment featuring Brian Jorde’s interview on Dakota News Now.