Commissioners approve old zoning rules for Laurel Power Plant

The Yellowstone County Commission on Tuesday approved a controversial set of zoning rules for the area that includes NorthWestern Energy’s Yellowstone County Generating Station, which the commission said has been in place in Laurel for years.

At a meeting of commissioners in Billings, some citizens expressed concerns about the zoning, including the plant’s location so close to the Yellowstone River, the sounds from the site and potential threats to clean air.

While environmental concerns have long surrounded a new gas-fired power plant in Laurel, commissioners focused on the narrow issue of zoning at Tuesday’s meeting.

“It came out exactly as I knew it would. Exactly,” said Steve Krum, a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council who lives near the plant. “I spoke to one of the commissioners before (the meeting).”

“It will be the current zoning that everyone thought was in place,” said Commissioner Mark Morse, a Republican, with confirmation from the district attorney.

Three Yellowstone County commissioners voted unanimously to implement zoning regulations they say already exist.

These regulations indicate that the area on which the plant was built is both agricultural and heavy industrial land.

“Everything approved today is identical to everything approved for the last 40 years,” said Commissioner John Ostlund, also a Republican.

“It seems strange that maps suddenly appeared,” Krum said.

Krum, who is also a member of a neighbors group called the Thiel Road Coalition that opposes the plant, and three other residents filed a lawsuit against the county in May.

The lawsuit accuses the county authorities of deliberately changing zoning maps and excluding the public from the process to ensure that the power plant is built.

“I think it’s just a big move to get permission to change the land where NorthWestern Energy built its power plant from agricultural to industrial,” Krum said.

Commissioners and Deputy Public Works Director Monica Plecker say there was no tampering and that county officials had to examine historical maps to determine the zone due to a lack of clear documentation.

“We have reviewed and are implementing the zoning that has historically been considered the norm,” Plecker said.

A trial in that case is still scheduled to take place in Yellowstone County Circuit Court, and an air quality lawsuit challenging the plant’s operation will also be heard by the Montana Supreme Court.

The plant has been operating since March.