Groups worried about the air quality over Theodore Roosevelt National Park have gone to court to block an oil refinery they fear will send pollution over the park/NPS

A small coalition of groups has come together to challenge the legality of the permit issued for an oil refinery that would operate within a few miles of the south entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

The Dakota Resource Council, Environmental Law & Policy Center, and National Parks Conservation Association on Thursday filed suit against the state for permitting the proposed Davis Refinery.

The lawsuit, filed by ELPC and Braaten Law Firm, is in response to North Dakota Department of Health’s approval of an air permit for the refinery, which would be the first industrial-sized refinery built in the country in more than 40 years. The plaintiffs oppose the state’s classification of the industrial refinery as a “minor” source of pollution rather than as a “major” source. The permit granted by North Dakota does not provide needed assurances that Meridian Energy will keep pollution to required levels, they groups argue.

“National Parks Conservation Association refuses to stand by and allow Meridian Energy Group to pollute the air within and surrounding Theodore Roosevelt National Park with its proposed oil refinery,” said Stephanie Kodish, NPCA's clean air program director. “The refinery would produce tens of thousands of barrels of oil each day and lacks necessary safeguards to minimize pollution. We must protect the air quality in the national park, which visitors and surrounding community members breathe, and on which the stunning views and fragile ecosystems depend. This polluting oil refinery betrays the conservation values of the park’s namesake.”

Principals for Meridian Energy, which wants to build the refinery, maintain that it would be the cleanest refinery ever built in the United States. They say the state-of-the-art facility would be built on 620 acres of land east of Theodore Roosevelt, between Fryburg and Belfield. The location is adjacent to a BNSF rail loading facility at Fryburg; the rail line actually runs through the refinery site. Oil and natural gas pipelines are close by, too, according to Meridian. The property also is near the junction of Highway 85 and Interstate 94. Highway 85 is the main north-south arterial that tanker trucks can use to carry crude from the Bakken field to pipeline and rail terminals.

But opponents aren't convinced the refinery won't adversely impact the national park once it goes into operation.

"We have to get this right. Oil refineries can be enormous polluters, and we are not confident this permit will keep air pollution levels low enough to keep the air clean in the Park and the surrounding area," said Scott Strand, senior attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center. "The Department of Health is just taking the company's promises as verifiable facts, and we believe that does not comply with the requirements of the law."