Great Falls biorefinery Montana Renewables can now send hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater to disposal sites in nearby Pondera County after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a permit application earlier this month. This story is excerpted from Great Falls This Week, a weekly newsletter on Great Falls city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Friday. Sign up Pondera County officials told Montana Free Press that they are considering an appeal. The company previously sent its wastewater to a disposal site in Idaho and to other out-of-state locations, according to regulatory documents and press releases. This new permit allows wastewater to be dumped at two unused oil wells that are less than two hours away, rather than in another state. The wells are owned by Montalban Oil and Gas. The Cut Bank company requested the wastewater permits from the EPA. Montana Renewables is the only intended user of the wells. Last week, a Montana Renewables spokesperson dodged a question about how or when it might use the disposal sites. “We are committed to responsible management of our wastewater and have taken steps to significantly reduce the amount over the past two years. Moving forward, we will continue to review options and make the best choices for the environment and business,” Montana Renewables spokesperson Lanni Klasner said in an email to MTFP last week. Asked to be more specific about how or when the sites would be used, Klasner declined to comment. Patrick Montalban, CEO of Montalban Oil and Gas, didn’t return a request for comment. Montalban sought the permits specifically for the disposal of Montana Renewables’ wastewater, which could amount to as much as 232,000 gallons per day. The permits had been under consideration by the EPA for nearly three years and faced pushback from area residents and public officials, who voiced concerns about the long-term impacts of injecting hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater deep underground. At a public hearing last fall at Conrad High School, EPA officials heard from a line of opponents that included Pondera County commissioners, Conrad’s mayor, local residents and tribal officials. About 6,000 people live in the county. The injection sites, more than 3,400 feet underground in the Madison Aquifer, have previously been used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas operations. Permit documents describe the underground water as of poor quality. The EPA determined that this region of the aquifer is “not a valuable potential source of drinking water” now or in the future. Pondera County Commissioner Zane Drishinski told MTFP last week that the county is exploring appeal options following the EPA decision. “We’re highly disappointed in their decision, of course,” Drishinski said. “We have a 30-day window to appeal starting last Friday [May 1] at 4:30.” Montana Renewables is in the middle of expanding its biorefinery, which primarily produces sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This type of jet fuel is made from agricultural materials, like seed oils. It still needs to be blended with conventional jet fuel and is currently used in a relatively small number of flights, but the federal government has said SAF has the potential to reduce airline emissions and has incentivized its production. The Montana Renewables expansion is funded by one of those incentives — a $1.6 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. The conservation group Golden Triangle Resource Council, along with its parent organization Northern Plains Resource Council, said in a statement to MTFP that its members are “deeply disappointed” in the EPA decision to grant the permit. But the group’s statement went on to criticize Montana Renewables for not making the on-site wastewater facility a priority. “Montana Renewables publicly committed to building that facility in July, 2025; but no construction has yet begun on that, and Montana Renewables refuses to “take dumping off the table,” the statement said in part. “With the EPA’s recent decision, will Montana Renewables do the right thing and carry through on its commitment to the community? Or will the recipient of so many city, state, and federal breaks opt for the fast buck at the expense of our underground water? We will be watching.” As part of its expansion, Montana Renewables plans to build a wastewater treatment facility at its Great Falls site. In late September, Klasner told MTFP that engineering work had started on that part of the development. Asked last week about progress on wastewater treatment, Klasner said the company has been “purchasing some necessary equipment and working with engineering consultants as we continue to evaluate and develop the facility.” The post EPA grants long-contested permit to dispose of Montana refinery’s wastewater appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less