News

DEQ refused to evaluate full scope of project and admits failure to meaningfully review public comments FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 5, 2021 HELENA, Mont. –  Today, the Northern Plains Resource Council and the Sierra Club appealed the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) issuance of a water quality certification for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2020 BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved a plan today for excavating – physically digging up – 6.7 million cubic yards of coal ash stored outside the Colstrip Power Plants in southeastern Montana. Coal ash is the waste product of coal-fired power plants and is […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  September 22, 2020 Link to DEQ Colstrip page with information on the coal ash pond comment period for Units 1&2: https://deq.mt.gov/DEQAdmin/mfs/ColstripSteamElectricStation BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is taking public comment on long-term plans to close and remediate a waste coal ash impoundment associated with Units 1&2 of […]

BLM Plans Govern Coal Mining of 50,000 Acres, 6 Billion Tons of Coal FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2020 GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to challenge a massive Powder River Basin coal mining plan that the groups say ignores alternatives to coal, oil and gas leasing and fails to […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, July 6, 2020 Court Rejects Push from Trump Admin to Allow Construction of Keystone XL Through Waterways Amid Appeal Washington, DC — Today, the United States Supreme Court declined a request from TC Energy and the Trump administration to allow Keystone XL to proceed under Nationwide Permit 12, a key water […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2020 Northern Plains Resource Council members persevere in long struggle to protect eastern Montana HELENA, Mont. – Last Friday, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) finalized rules that will govern radioactive oil waste disposal in Montana. Crafting these protections took over 6 years, and was driven largely by members […]

Legally-binding contract protects pristine rivers and quality of life in rural Montana FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2020 BILLINGS, Mont. – May 8, 2020, marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Neighbor Agreement, a legally-binding contract overseeing an expansive mine operation in Montana. The contract was negotiated between the Stillwater Mining Company […]

Protections are impeded despite overwhelming public support FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2020 HELENA, Mont. – Members of an interim legislative committee, the Environmental Quality Council, voted yesterday to “object” to a nearly final draft of rules that would guide the disposal of radioactive oil waste in Montana. The committee is composed of 12 legislators […]

Court blocks construction through almost 700 waterways along the pipeline route FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 15, 2020 Great Falls, MT — A federal judge ruled today that the US Army Corps of Engineers violated the law when it approved Nationwide Permit 12, a key water crossing permit for TC Energy’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline […]

The National Mining Association’s use of the COVID-19 crisis to roll back royalty rates puts revenue streams for states and coal communities dealing with the crisis in jeopardy.   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2020 BILLINGS, Mont. —  The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and its member groups in Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado are asking […]