According to an article in the Billings Gazette entitled “Is the Big Sky blowing smoke?” only water vapor comes out of the stacks at the three oil refineries around Billings and the sugar beet factory.     Ryan Wegner, manager of finance and public affairs at Phillips 66 Billings Refinery, explains why anyone who says the Big Sky is filled with anything other than steam is just blowing smoke. “Many folks see these plumes from our facility and believe they are something other than what they actually are — steam….

Here’s a summary of the blog: ICYMI, the EPA and DEQ made Exxon do a sACP for their SEP and things got worse, WTF. After the 2011 Yellowstone River oil spill, Exxon was required to undertake a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP). This is a bureaucratic term that refers to a situation when a company voluntarily agrees to undertake “an environmentally beneficial project related to the violation in exchange for mitigation of the penalty to be paid.”  Guess what Exxon’s SEP project was? They created a Yellowstone River sub-Area Contingency Plan (sACP) and a…

Yesterday, I wrote about my experience during the 2011 Yellowstone River Exxon oil spill. I advised people to email Governor Bullock and request the state of Montana take the lead in communication with the public and the oil spill response. I was remiss in leaving out why I think that is necessary. On July 2, 2011 I woke up and walked down to my hay fields. I found my pastures flooded with crude oil. No one called us. We were not evacuated. I’ll refrain from sharing with you what I said…

Whoa whoa whoa. I think our Yellowstone County Commissioners have gotten a little ahead of themselves with this proposed “clean energy” oil refinery. Today, Commissioners Ostlund, Reno and Kennedy rolled out the welcome mat to the executives from Quantum Energy. “This clean technology has really got me excited,” Commissioner Ostlund said to the Billings Gazette this week. Then, today at the Commission meeting he asked the company what he could do to help. Well, I’d like to ask Commissioner Ostlund to help the public, instead of a practically defunct energy…