NORTH DAKOTA

Carbon capture pipeline opens

BISMARCK — A multi-state carbon capture pipeline began operating in September, reducing emissions from Midwest ethanol plants and carrying that carbon dioxide gas to be forever buried underground in Wyoming — an achievement after years of complaints, lawsuits and legislation blocked similar efforts by other companies.

Other projects prompted intense opposition, including one that has run up $1 billion in spending with no guarantee of success, but the Tallgrass Trailblazer Pipeline is being praised. The reason: community negotiations and financial support.

The Tallgrass pipeline has started moving emissions from 11 ethanol plants in Nebraska and one in Iowa to a site in southeast Wyoming, where the greenhouse gas will be buried 9,000 feet underground.

Tallgrass had one big advantage at the starting point — it converted an existing natural gas line. The natural gas was put on a different pipeline as Trailblazer was retrofitted. The company built branches off the 400-mile mainline to connect to ethanol plants.

Tallgrass operators also took pains to engage with communities along its route, including with Bold Nebraska, a citizens group, to create a community investment fund that will make annual payments to organizations related to early childhood development, Medicaid-eligible senior care and food pantries.

Tallgrass will make an initial $500,000 contribution followed by annual payments based on 10 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide sent through the pipeline. The Nebraska Community Foundation, which will manage the fund, expects more than $7 million will be given out through 2035 across 31 counties in four states.

NEW MEXICO

Tests tie PFAS to plume

ALBUQUERQUE — PFAS — or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals used in everything from fast-food packaging to nonstick cookware, clothing, household cleaning products and even firefighting foam — resist breaking down and as a result have found their way into drinking water, soil, air and the bloodstreams of 99% of Americans.

This is certainly true for people who live or work near a plume of contamination that has seeped beyond the boundaries of Cannon Air Force Base, where PFAS-laden firefighting foam was used for years.

New Mexico health and environmental officials conducted a $1.2 million testing project, drawing blood from nearly 630 people. They shared the results Oct. 23 at a public meeting.

The research shows 99.7% of participants had one or more PFAS in their blood, with the most common being associated with firefighting foams.

While the percentage isn’t surprising given the overall prevalence of so-called forever chemicals in the environment, officials said some residents living in the plume area showed dramatically higher concentrations than the broader testing group. About one-quarter of them had levels reaching the highest concentration tier used in national guidelines.

New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said that his agency will help the community in any way that it can but that the state is still locked in litigation with the U.S. Defense Department over the damage caused by the contamination.

WYOMING

Miss Frontiers honored in bronze

CHEYENNE — There have been more than 90 Miss Frontiers, and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum partnered with the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project team to commemorate all of them.

On Nov. 9, the museum unveiled a life-size bronze called “The Bronze Queen” near the museum’s main entrance. It is the first life-size bronze that’s been made for the project, which has consisted of dozens of smaller bronzes downtown up to this point.

The bronze, inspired by the Miss Frontier banners project inside the museum, honors the courage, grace and spirit of Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo queens past and present.

The ceremony featured appearances by former and current Miss Frontiers, plus Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., and statue artist Joey Bainer, along with donors who made the project possible.

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., herself a former Miss Frontier, wasn’t able to make it to the event. But she sent a letter that said being selected as Miss Frontier 1976 “was one of the greatest honors of my life.”

They also showed a video featuring multiple Miss Frontiers showing off all of the banners in the museum, along with a Miss Frontier tribute song specially made for the video playing in the background.

Bainer said the statue took about two years to create from conception to the fully realized bronze. The design of the face was inspired by a conglomeration of every Miss Frontier, too, not just one person.

Trump pardons trail runner

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — President Donald Trump on Nov. 10 pardoned a trail runner who briefly took a prohibited trail on his way to a record time up and down the tallest peak in the Teton Range of western Wyoming.

The pardon for Michelino Sunseri, unlike recent pardons of Trump allies, appeared apolitical.

Sunseri, 33, ran up and down Grand Teton, the 13,775-foot centerpiece of the iconic Teton Range, in 2 hours, 50 minutes, 50 seconds in 2024.

It was an epic feat: The run covered 13.3 miles, gaining 7,000 feet in elevation, then back down again in western Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.

But on the way down, Sunseri left a switchback to avoid casual hikers. Going off-trail in a national park is considered a no-no because it can cause erosion, especially when a shortcut over time becomes a popular way to go.

Sunseri, who was open about taking the two-minute detour, got a misdemeanor conviction from a judge in September.

Before the pardon, prosecutors agreed to seek dismissal if Sunseri completed 60 hours of community service and a course on wilderness stewardship, according to Sunseri’s attorneys.

The judge expressed concern about that change, however, and set another hearing in the case. The pardon now renders any deal moot.

Democrats and Republicans alike have expressed concern about “overcriminalization” of minor offenses in national parks, said Sunseri’s attorney, Ed Bushnell.

“I do believe, had Democrats been in power, we would’ve been seeing a similar result,” Bushnell said of the pardon. “It’s a good result.”

Sunseri was “very pleased” to get the pardon, Bushnell said.