Environmental organizations and residents near a planned natural gas plant in Laurel are fighting to stop its construction even as it proceeds.
The residents, along with Montana Environmental Information Center and Northern Plains Resource Council, filed a complaintin Yellowstone County district court Friday asking a judge to determine whether the city of Laurel or Yellowstone County has zoning jurisdiction over the land where NorthWestern is building.
“We realized NorthWestern had commenced construction at the site, but had never received the zone change that we believe is necessary to build on the site,” said Anne Hedges with Montana Environmental Information Center.
The groups maintain the city of Laurel has jurisdiction over the parcels, which the groups say are partly zoned for agriculture and partly for heavy industrial use. The groups say the properties need to be zoned ‘heavy industrial’ entirely for NorthWestern to build there.
A lawyer with the city sent YPR documents suggesting the city does not have authority over the land. Representatives with Yellowstone County and NorthWestern Energy say they’ve recently received the court filing and are reviewing it.
