Another pipeline parts company accuses Summit of backing out of contract

Patton Myhre Sourcing alleges Summit is in breach of its purchase contract and now owes more than $6.6 million for the valves it agreed to purchase in 2022 for the pipeline that, at the time of the contract, would have transported sequestered carbon dioxide from biorefineries in Iowa and surrounding states to underground storage in North Dakota. 

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Summit’s project has faced a number of delays since, including a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon sequestration pipelines in South Dakota, and attempts to pass a similar law in Iowa. 

In May, the company announced it was changing its route to instead go through Nebraska and end in Wyoming. 

According to the lawsuit, Summit requested a series of payment delays and accommodations as the carbon sequestration pipeline project “stalled.” In 2025, the petition alleges, Summit said it “was electing not to pursue the project and no longer wanted the valves.” 

“Summit simply chose not to pay,” Patton Myhre Sourcing alleges in the lawsuit. 

The lawsuit alleges Summit agreed to pay more than $7.3 million to Patton Myhre for 251 “specialized” valves. Patton Myhre is requesting $6.6 million in damages which comprise the $2.3 million it alleges Summit still owes for the valves themselves, $3.6 million in storage costs and more in interest and freight costs. 

“Summit’s delinquency caused significant financial strain on Patton Myhre, which had already incurred substantial costs to manufacture and store the valves,” the filed complaint reads. 

The lawsuit alleges that more than a year after Summit paused its payments and relationship with Patton Myhre, “nothing has changed for the better.” 

The lawsuit said Summit has not given an indication of “un-pausing” payment obligations and “in fact” the company’s plan to use the pipeline for enhanced oil recovery, rather than carbon storage, represents “a different use for which the valves were not designed.” 

This is the second pipeline parts company that has sued Summit for failing to uphold a purchase agreement. 

In 2024, the Arkansas pipe manufacturer Welspun Tubular sued Summit for $15 million after the company canceled its agreement with the pipe maker. The companies failed to reach a settlement, leading the case to be tried in June in a Delaware court. A decision on the case has not been issued. 

The most recent case against Summit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Summit Carbon Solutions did not respond to a request for comment and as of Thursday, it had not filed a response to the petition from Patton Myhre. 

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