(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Lawsuit alleges Montana DEQ approved wastewater project without public participation – Daily Montanan [1] ['Blair Miller', 'More From Author', '- October'] Date: 2023-10-18 The owner and manager of a ranch near West Yellowstone and an environmental advocacy group sued the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on Friday, alleging the department approved a large wastewater project without any public process. The plaintiffs in the case – Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, the Diamond P Ranch, ranch owner Rex Portmann, and ranch manager Brandon Lewis – also say the permits were granted after a “flawed” environmental analysis. They are asking a judge in Gallatin County District Court to find not only that their constitutional rights to know and participate in government were violated, but also to vacate DEQ’s approval of the Deep Well Ranch Regional Wastewater System so it can go back through a public process. “It’s disturbing that the DEQ approved these plans and the KOA began construction, all without notifying their neighbors or conducting a meaningful environmental assessment. We deserve more, nature deserves more, and law itself affords us more,” Lewis said in a statement. The wastewater system will serve KOA’s Mountainside and Holiday West Yellowstone campgrounds along Highway 20 and additional development planned nearby. According to DEQ documents attached to the lawsuit, the wastewater system was authorized in March 2022 and will consist of a sewer main and gravity collection system that crosses Denny Creek, a wastewater lift station, a wastewater treatment lagoon that can store up to 3.9 million gallons during the winter, and a spray-irrigation wastewater disposal system to be used during the summer and fall to distribute up to 75,000 gallons per day onto a hay crop. The lawsuit alleges that though the DEQ performed two environmental assessments for the project, it never provided for a public participation process on the project. “DEQ never published notice or provided opportunity to comment on its consideration or approval of the Regional System, despite having considered the project for over ten years, and despite having crafted EAs for portions of the project,” the lawsuit says. Diamond P Ranch is located adjacent to the field where the wastewater will be distributed through the irrigation sprinkler system. The lawsuit claims Portmann and Lewis have suffered harm because they were not informed of the discussions underway about the project and because the wastewater system could degrade the quality of the ranch if sewage is being sprayed onto a field next door. The lawsuit also claims that the project could affect recreation and wildlife in the area, which is just west of Yellowstone National Park, because the wastewater could potentially seep into groundwater systems and Denny Creek, a tributary of the Madison River and Hebgen Lake. “Our 19th century family homestead and guest ranch is located less than a couple hundred feet from new center pivot sewage discharge sprinklers, spraying aerosolized human waste into the wind that will inevitably damage my property, livelihood, and business, yet I was never informed of any land application disposal until it was too late,” Portmann said in a statement. According to the suit, Lewis and Portmann would not have known the project went through environmental analyses if Lewis did not file a right-to-know request with the DEQ in July asking for all documentation related to the project’s consideration and authorization. He sent subsequent emails throughout August and early September following up on the requests for information, records attached to the lawsuit show. The suit says DEQ responded to Lewis’s request in mid-September, but emails show Lewis still had questions as to why there were no responsive records about public notices or participation, and why the initial environmental analyses did not contain potential impacts to waterways and wildlife. He said he planned to file a formal complaint based on the response. “The public water and wastewater laws under which the regional system were reviewed do not have separate public meeting requirements,” DEQ’s environmental enforcement specialist responded on Sept. 15, also offering a link to a Gallatin County Planning Department meeting at which parts of the project were discussed. A spokesperson for DEQ said Tuesday the department had just received the complaint and was reviewing it, adding that the department does not typically comment on active litigation. But the lawsuit claims that “no one could have known” DEQ was considering the wastewater system because the plaintiffs say no notice as given to adjacent landowners or the public, which they consider to be a violation the Montana Environmental Policy Act. The plaintiffs claim the project’s approval, allegedly without public participation, violates the state constitution, state statute and rules surrounding right-to-know law, public participation, and MEPA. They are also asking for a writ of mandate requiring DEQ “to provide a meaningful public participation process and reconsider its decision-making for the Regional System” that they claim should have been done under MEPA, according to the suit. The plaintiffs say they feel a lack of participation on these types of projects threatens the local communities, wildlife and water supplies of the area. “In West Yellowstone, this situation is even more disturbing as the agency failed to consider the impacts of a new regional wastewater facility on local waterways and wildlife just outside of our nation’s first National Park,” said Upper Missouri Waterkeeper Executive Director Guy Alsentzer. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/10/18/lawsuit-alleges-montana-deq-approved-wastewater-project-without-public-participation/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/