Environmental groups question refinery near national park
BISMARCK, N.D. — Environmental groups opposing the site of an oil refinery being developed near Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota want a judge to reconsider his recent recommendation that state regulators dismiss the groups’ challenge.
Administrative Law Judge Patrick Ward in a nonbinding ruling last month said the Public Service Commission doesn’t have jurisdiction in the dispute because Meridian Energy Group is planning a refinery with a capacity below a threshold in state law that requires a site permit from the PSC.
The Environmental Law and Policy Center and Dakota Resource Council in recent filings say Meridian didn’t update the state Health Department about its decision to lower the refinery’s capacity below the threshold, indicating the project might end up being larger than the company maintains.
“Meridian’s failure to take steps to update or revise its (Health Department) permit to construct belies its claims,” the groups’ attorneys wrote in documents imploring Ward to reopen the case and allow them to explore the veracity of the company’s stated plans.