Yes. Summit Carbon Solutions strongly supports the use of qualified Tribal Monitors on the Midwest Carbon Express Project. This includes the timeframes where surveys are being completed, the project is being constructed, and the post-construction phases of the Project. Depending on the Tribes’ choice, the company will consider either contracting directly with Tribes for the provision of Tribal Monitors or hiring individual citizens of Tribes in the Project Area as Tribal Monitors. The latter option of directly hiring individual Tribal Monitors may also be carried out by Summit Carbon Solutions’ contractors and subcontractors. If your Tribe is interested in potentially providing Tribal Monitors to the Project or if you are a member of a federally recognized Tribe in the Project Area who is interested in being considered for a Tribal Monitor position, please contact Erin Salisbury at esalisbury@summitcarbon.com for more information.

Summit Carbon Solutions is committed to complying with all laws governing such inadvertent discoveries, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Because most of the project will cross private lands subject to state or county jurisdiction, specific state or county laws may vary. However, most states require an immediate halt in construction or other earth-disturbing activity to determine if an inadvertent discovery involves human rather than animal remains, and, if so, whether those human remains are of comparatively recent origin that necessitate additional investigation by local law enforcement. If the remains are determined to be historical or pre-historical, it is ordinarily the landowners’ decision under state law as to how remains are to be treated, regardless if they are determined to be Native American or non-Native American. Summit Carbon Solutions will adhere to all Unanticipated Discovery Plans approved by the five State Historic Preservation Officers in the project area.  These plans will outline the specific steps that will be taken in the event of such unanticipated discoveries.

Importantly, the company’s approach is to encourage private landowners to work constructively and proactively with Tribal officials should any inadvertent discoveries of human remains occur on private land. The presence of Tribal Monitors during all major phases of the project is an important way to strengthen this approach and to keep Tribes informed of what is actually happening on and under the ground.

Summit Carbon Solutions respects that Tribal citizens, including Tribal Historic Preservation Officers as well as Elders, may wish to visit certain portions of the project area, including traditional cultural properties and sacred places, that are of historical, cultural and spiritual interest to their respective Tribes. Such visits may involve traditional ceremonies and other activities. The company welcomes such requests by Tribal governments and will seek to accommodate them on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Erin Salisbury at esalisbury@summitcarbon.com.

In addition to Tribal Monitoring, Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture and storage project includes employment opportunities that may be of interest to citizens of Native American Tribes and Nations.  Summit Carbon Solutions has prioritized the hiring of Native Americans in its contracts with the various contractors involved with the project.  This off-Reservation Native American hiring preference – the first of its kind in the carbon capture and storage industry – applies to Tribally-owned and operated enterprises, as well as Native American-owned and operated businesses.  The hiring preference reflects our commitment to encouraging Native American participation in an emerging industry whose goal – as recently recognized by the Council of Large Tribes (COLT) in a letter to President Biden – is to create a more sustainable energy future.  Summit Carbon Solutions is actively working with COLT and other inter-tribal organizations to provide more information on employment opportunities relating to the project.  For more information, please contact Gena.timberman@exp.com.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has documented that Native Americans disproportionately experience the adverse effects of air pollution as compared to many other communities. For instance, Native Americans suffer from asthma at nearly twice the national average, according to a February 20, 2021 EPA report. As the world’s largest carbon capture and storage system, the project will connect 32 ethanol facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska; capture and “sequester” 18 million tons of carbon dioxide those plants emit every year; and permanently and safely store those greenhouse gases safely below ground. This is the equivalent of taking 3.9 million cars off the road annually and represents one of the most consequential steps that the United States can and will take to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Less carbon pollution will benefit everyone living in the project area, including Tribal citizens.