Both trust-busting Progressives like Teddy Roosevelt and rich, establishment Democrats like his nephew FDR should be able to agree, even in the heat of a New York primary, if there’s one place that we should NOT build a new oil refinery, it’s right outside the gates of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
And yet, that’s the really bad idea proposal: Crude Oil Refinery Proposed Next To Theodore Roosevelt National Park Raises Concerns.
“They shouldn’t be putting an industrial park next to a national park," Valerie Naylor, the park's former superintendent, said Friday during a phone call. "If this was being proposed within three miles of Yellowstone, Glacicer, Yosemite, or even Mount Rushmore, there would be a huge national outcry. I don’t know why there shouldn’t be a similar outcry about Theodore Roosevelt.”
To mark the 100 year anniversary of the National Park Service, I visited John Muir’s house, now the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, CA. The site is small, beautiful, and includes the house, the orchard and also the Martinez Adobe, which is an important historical site by itself. (Unfortunately, there is a Koch Brothers’ Valero gas station immediately across the street from the entrance.) Standing in front of John Muir’s desk where so many influential letters and books were written, the Park Ranger spoke eloquently about Teddy Roosevelt, about his actions to save America’s natural treasures, and about how John and Teddy camped together in Yosemite Valley, shared a deep love of natural places and remained friends for years. Protecting these places takes great vision, political courage and popular support.
Teddy famously recovered at Elkhorn Ranch from the heartbreaking tragedy on Valentine’s Day 1884, when both his mother and wife died on the same day. This marked a turning point in Teddy’s life and in the future of Conservation in America. Teddy went on to help change the course of America’s relationship with our remaining natural wildernesses, to protect the first and some of the greatest of our National Parks, and to inspire many others to try to do as well.
It is right across the river from the same Elkhorn Ranch where Meridian Energy plans to build their “clean” refinery to process fossil fuels from the Bakken fields. While oil prices have slumped, those fields are one of the lowest cost places to drill in the US, so they remain economical even as most other fields go bust. The proposed refinery would likely be the largest built in the US in the last 30 years, and the plan is for it to be operational in 2018.
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2016 · 3:16:32 PM +00:00
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CorpFlunky
The Bismarck Tribune mentions a few ways this could be stopped. Meridian is arguing that the refinery wouldn’t be visible from the site and would be just really super clean and odorless, really.
The National Park Service will monitor the permit process and could issue a determination of adverse impact. If the state agreed with the park service, the permit would not be issued, or the permit could be appealed. It’s possible the Environmental Protection Agency could get involved.
But first, Meridian is trying to get an air quality permit so that they can cut down trees and bulldoze the area. Billings County (ND) Zoning is taking up the case this Thursday 4/21 (yes, the day before Earth Day), and they would recommend to the Billings County Commission on May 3rd.
Here’s the contact information for the Zoning Inspectors at the County Courthouse:
Phone: 701.623.4810 • Fax: 701.623.4761
stswanson@nd.gov
jpemberton@nd.gov
And the Commissioners site includes the following helpful note:
If you would like to speak with the commissioners, please call 701.623.4377 to be placed on the agenda.