Judge: No site permit needed for refinery near national park

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has ruled that regulators properly refrained from getting involved in a dispute over the location of an $800 million oil refinery planned near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, sparing developers from a potentially lengthy delay in construction.

The Public Service Commission last year declined to review whether the planned Davis Refinery could be built just 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the park in the western North Dakota Badlands, concluding the refinery will be too small to warrant review under state law.

Environmental groups that don’t believe developer Meridian Energy Group is being forthright about the refinery’s size asked a state judge to order the commission to hold a hearing — a request that Meridian called “a fishing expedition.”

Judge Bruce Romanick on Tuesday sided with the PSC, ruling the agency followed state law that requires only those oil refineries with a capacity of 50,000 or more barrels daily to obtain a site permit from the agency. Meridian’s current capacity estimate for the Davis Refinery is 49,500 barrels daily.

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