BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - Montana environmental regulators have a little more than a year to comply with a new court settlement to eliminate its backlog of outdated discharge permits for refineries, power plants and other facilities that release wastewater into rivers.
The settlement approved Monday by Gallatin County District Judge Holly Brown calls on the Department of Environmental Quality to inspect and issue new permits to more than 40 facilities.
Some of the discharge permits expired more than a decade ago, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported (bit.ly/1mIcgTZ) in a story published Thursday.
The Cottonwood Environmental Law Center and Montana River Action sued last year after the DEQ was slow to respond to a 2008 letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the outdated permits.
“The DEQ has been allowing large corporate polluters to needlessly spoil our rivers and streams with toxic water pollution for more than 10 years. This settlement will require polluters to come into compliance with current water quality standards and obtain the best available technology for treating their pollution,” said John Meyer, the executive director for the law center.
DEQ spokesman Chris Saeger said budget cuts contributed to the growing backlog, but the agency had taken steps to reduce it prior to the lawsuit.
“We have implemented improved tracking systems, streamlined internal procedures and refined the rules that govern these permits - all with the goal of delivering this service more efficiently,” Saeger said.
Sixty-five percent of Montana’s permits were current in 2000. Four years later, just 52 percent of permits were current, compared to an average of about 90 percent in other western states.
Eight of the facilities with expired permits are considered major dischargers, including two power plants and two refineries.
The 1948 Clean Water Act requires cities and industry groups to obtain permits every five years to dump polluted water into lakes and streams.
The facilities must show the pollutants in their water, such as arsenic or petroleum byproducts, are below environmental limits set by the EPA to qualify.
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Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com
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