By Tom Lutey, Billings Gazette
Construction of NorthWestern Energy’s gas-fired power plant in Laurel has been ordered halted by a judge’s ruling Thursday that state regulators ignored environmental risks when permitting the facility in 2021.
Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality “failed to take a hard look concerning two environmental issues,” ruled District Judge Michael Moses. The impacts of the gas-fired power plant’s emissions of greenhouse gases received no consideration by DEQ, Moses concluded. Noise from the power plant was the second issue, of which DEQ did little analysis.
