Dismissing Wastewater Concerns
On the ranch, I’ve learned that it is easier to do something right the first time.
Yet, when it comes to disposing of biodiesel waste, apparently it is easier to pick and choose facts than discuss details transparently.
When generalizations are challenged with valid questions, apparently it is easier to discount the challenger instead of answering the questions.
When a state agency is charged with enforcing protections, apparently it is easier to declare a lack of a problem than to investigate.
Montana Renewables produces biodiesel in Great Falls.
The most efficient method to dispose of the wastewater is to pre-treat it at the refinery and then add it to the Great Falls water treatment system.
No-brainer.
Instead, the company trucks the wastewater 85 miles to load it on railcars and haul it to out-of-state waste sites.
This is a temporary disposal plan.
Montana Renewables has contracted with Montalban Oil and Gas Operations, hoping to inject that wastewater into two abandoned oil wells at the end of a gravel road 91 miles from the refinery.
To inject wastewater, owner Patrick Montalban needs a Class V permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pondera County residents had questions about this project so the county commissioners hosted a meeting with representatives from Montana Renewables, Montalban, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA there to provide answers.
About 80 people attended.
Many asked questions.
The panel did a pretty good job explaining the project in general terms, reassuring the crowd that injecting contaminated wastewater deep into the ground was safe.
Their defensive red flags waved when we delved into the details.
When I asked how a well that had produced 95,000 barrels of oil and water could hold about 16 million barrels of fluid within the same quarter-mile area – 171 times more than had been removed – the Montana Renewables representative stood right next to me and, before I finished my question, declared that my math was wrong.
I asked him how it was wrong.
He ignored me.
Instead, he said Montana Renewables plans to use these wells for a couple of years, yet the permit is for more than 106,000 truckloads in the next 10 years.
He uttered phrases such as “hatchet job” and “flair for the dramatic.”
The permit application describes the injectate materials as “including, but not limited to” vegetable oils and animal fat, among others.
Anything could go down those wells.
And those materials can change any time without public notice. EPA representatives said anyone can file a Freedom of Information request to find out.
Yet how would anyone know when to file?
The permit application said Montalban wants to inject material down two more wells later, with more truckloads of undefined material into unmonitored formations.
Montana DEQ declares it has no jurisdiction unless there is a spill.
Last December, a citizen alerted the DEQ that waste spilled from a truck when an above-ground tank was being removed.
A DEQ employee jumped into action.
He called Montalban to ask if there had been a spill. When Montalban said nothing had spilled, the case was closed.
Effective enforcement at its finest.
After the meeting, I tried again to clarify groundwater protection.
I asked a DEQ employee how potential leaks would be monitored.
He replied “if you don’t see stuff bubbling up, you’re fine.”
Pondera County residents have valid concerns. If our groundwater is contaminated, we suffer irreparable harm.
I support capitalism and environmental progress.
I do not support dismissive, patronizing responses to valid questions.
Just like on the ranch, it would be easier if oil companies and agencies did the right thing in the first place instead of interrupting citizens, obfuscating details and potentially contaminating groundwater.