BISMARCK—The company planning to build an oil refinery west of Belfield, N.D., and just three miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park's eastern edge has submitted its permit application to the North Dakota Department of Health.
On Friday, Oct. 7, Meridian Energy Group submitted its permit to construct the Davis Refinery as a minor synthetic source of air pollution, said Craig Thorstenson, an environmental engineer who handles permitting for the department's Division of Air Quality.
The refinery is the first "of its complexity" in history to apply as a minor synthetic source, according to a statement by Meridian. Other refinery projects typically apply as a major source of air pollution.
Meridian's plans call for the Davis Refinery to eventually refine 55,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil a day. Throughout the process, Meridian officials have said the Davis Refinery will be the most environmentally sustainable refinery ever built.