News

By Holly Michels Many who support the Department of Environmental Quality’s first-time effort to regulate radioactive oilfield waste disposal sites still find a draft of the rules severely lacking. More than a dozen people testified in Helena on Thursday, all proponents of DEQ’s proposal for how to handle radioactive oilfield waste dumps. The rules will […]

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 […]

When the Bakken boomed, North Dakota got the bulk of oil development and Montana got most of the radioactive waste. North Dakota prohibited disposal of radioactive filter socks and other radioactive drilling waste. Montana had no rules, so the waste ended up here. Finally, Montana is moving forward with public health and safety rules specific […]

Good Earth Market co-op is one of the sponsors of the Montana Local Food Challenge organized by Northern Plains. The Local Food Challenge ends Aug. 31 so you can still participate! Local matters because it supports our local agricultural economy and it supports families in our own communities. Since its origin, the Good Earth Market, 3024 […]

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 […]

As talks begin in renegotiating NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), it is undeniable that the trade pact has been a disaster for working people, communities and the environment in the United States, Mexico and Canada. For more than two decades, the deal has prioritized corporate profits while offshoring jobs, eroding working-class wages, displacing family […]

By Bernie Mason This is the third week of the Montana Local Food Challenge, sponsored by the Northern Plains Resource Council, and you are encouraged to find new ways to support our Montana producers and the businesses that feature local foods. A “local food” is defined as any Montana product, if the majority of the […]

By Tom Lutey Talen Energy has put a $138 million price tag on capping Colstrip Power Plant’s toxic coal ash ponds. The co-owner and operator of the southeast Montana coal-fired power plant submitted the required estimates earlier this month to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality. Capping the ash ponds is only one portion of […]