Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office announced a $1.44 billion loan to Montana Renewables LLC (Montana Renewables, a subsidiary of Calumet Inc.) to expand their production of renewable fuels.
While Pondera County commissioners welcome this loan, they are hoping to see it go toward increasing sustainability.
“They've said that they want to be sustainable and they want to be accountable, corporately and environmentally, and I think that’s good, if it can be done,” said Jim Morren, Pondera County commissioner.
The loan, if finalized, will mainly go towards expanding the renewable fuels facility in Great Falls to increase production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
“The last thing on [Montana Renewables] list is ‘on-site water treatment and recycling capabilities,’ so I hope if that's the order that they're going to do it in, that the order gets changed, reversed, so that the first thing they're doing is preparing for the waste that they're producing,” commissioner Morren explained.
According to the Pondera County sanitarian, Corrine Rose, Montana Renewables is not required to submit third-party water samples; however, they feel it's necessary for transparency.
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“We’re working with Montana Salinity Control and the Pondera County Conservation District, to obtain a grant to get these background water samples,” Rose explained. “That way, if people in the future feel their water supplies, we're talking wells, springs, surface water, has been contaminated, they'll actually be able to prove it.”
A spokesperson for Montana Renewables told MTN, “Our washwater is not polluted and must meet all EPA requirements before injection into any wells.”
Montana Renewables is requesting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to inject their water into the Madison Aquifer in Pondera County. The county is concerned this could negatively impact drinking and irrigation water.
“The only thing we are opposed to is having this wastewater dumped into Pondera County. We know that there are treatment options out there, and we feel very, very strongly that this water needs to be treated and reused,” Rose added.
Montana Renewables also told MTN “Our washwater is not hazardous, does not contain harmful chemicals, will not pollute groundwater or irrigation water, and poses no risk to humans and wildlife.”
Additionally, Montana Renewables said “Thanks to the innovations of our engineering and processing teams, we have already significantly reduced the amount of washwater we produce.”
