News

Legislation bolstered by statewide grassroots organizing FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2019 BILLINGS, Mont. – The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, drafted by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and eventually supported by Montana’s entire congressional delegation, was passed on the floor of the United States Senate today. The bill is part of a broad public lands package, the Natural […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 2018 Great Falls, MT – U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled today that TransCanada is prohibited from field activities related to the construction of their proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Today’s Supplemental Order clarifies the court’s November 8 decision which found that the Trump Administration failed to comply with environmental laws in issuing […]

Federal Judge Brian Morris vacates Presidential Permit FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 8, 2018 Great Falls, MT – Today, Judge Brian Morris levied what could be the final blow to TransCanada’s would-be Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, vacating the 2017 record of decision by President Trump to issue the Presidential Permit for the project. Judge Morris […]

by Michael Biesecker Associated Press, September 16, 2018, 10:06 AM Duke Energy said Saturday night that heavy rains from Florence caused a slope to collapse at a coal-ash landfill at a closed power station near the North Carolina coast. Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash were displaced […]

The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act is a great example of how legislation should be written. The bill introduced in the Senate by Jon Tester and in the House by Greg Gianforte began in Paradise Valley — the northern gateway to Yellowstone National Park. After two foreign-owned companies started making plans to mine in the valley near […]

By Tom Lutey Billings Gazette, June 21, 2018 Fort Peck tribes raise concerns about Keystone XL pipeline threatening reservation’s water The Keystone XL pipeline is facing opposition from American Indians along its Montana-to-Oklahoma route, beginning with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. Proposed by TransCanada Corporation, the pipeline for Alberta tar sands oil skirts […]

By Nate Heygi On Thursday, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing on draft rules to oversee the disposal of radioactive oil waste in the state. Radioactive oil waste, also known as TENORM, is the sludge that’s pulled out of the ground when companies are fracking or drilling for oil. It is […]

HAS AUDIO Eric Tegethoff HELENA, Mont. – After more than four years of urging, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has released draft rules to oversee the disposal of radioactive oil waste in the state. Since 2013, the Oaks Disposal facility near Glendive has been the destination for more than 250,000 tons of radioactive waste, mostly from North […]

By Matt Hudson Extraction companies have always known exactly what to do with the fossil fuels pulled out of the Bakken formation. But early in the boom, no one really knew what to do with the tons of radioactive waste that drillers produced. “Couple of municipal landfills started getting materials coming in from the landfill,” […]

Take action! Sign today, and show Seth you stand with eastern Montana.     Link to DEQ draft radioactive oil waste rules and hearings schedule: http://deq.mt.gov/DEQAdmin/dir/legal/hearing By Northern Plains Resource Council GLENDIVE, Mont. – The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) last week published draft rules to oversee the disposal of radioactive oil waste in […]