Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative and environmentally-compliant oil refining facilities, advanced one step closer toward issuance of the final Permit to Construct (PTC) for the Davis Refinery with a public information meeting and public hearing held last week. The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) - Air Quality Division conducted the meeting, at Dickinson State University.
This meeting was held during the 45-day public comment period, which ends on Friday, January 26th. Meridian understands that following the end of the comment period, NDDoH will respond to the relevant comments and finalize, then issue the PTC to Meridian. The Presentation of Meridian's Permit Application and the draft PTC by the NDDoH was very informative, and provided the NDDoH view of the technical merits of the Project and the reasoning behind the decision by NDDoH to issue the Draft PTC for public comment on December 8th, 2017. The purpose of the meeting was for the public to offer comments relating to the Air Quality permit only.
The turnout for the meeting was overwhelmingly supportive. Even though a minority of the attendees had concerns about the Project, they provided the majority of the public comments. It was interesting to Meridian that of those in attendance who spoke up against the location of the Project, none of those offered any comment that was relevant to the Draft PTC itself. Meridian and its representatives considered the meeting a success and offered its gratitude to the NDDoH on such a well-run, informative meeting.
William Prentice, CEO of Meridian Energy Group said of the Public Comment Meeting, "After fifteen months of intense effort, NDDoH had an opportunity to present its case on why they have decided to issue the Draft PTC that they intend to approve for the Davis Refinery. In the opinion of Meridian, the presentation by NDDoH staff displayed the professional expertise and dedication to the mission of the Agency that has distinguished NDDoH throughout the PTC process. NDDoH has done an exceptional job on a very complicated and innovative Project, and when the cleanest refinery on the planet goes into operation, Meridian hopes that NDDoH will be just as proud of that accomplishment as Meridian will be."
Natalie Muruato, Belfield City Auditor on the turnout from the public, "We were very happy to see the progress that the Department of Health has made on this Project, and hope that they will quickly move to approve the final permit after the end of the comment period. We were also very surprised by the Health Department's presentation displaying just how clean the Davis Refinery will be when in operation. It was great to see a majority of the 200 or so people in attendance in support of the Davis Refinery project. It was validating that my comments during the meeting were met with applause from the audience. I think it showed the Department of Health how much support this Project receives from Belfield and Stark and Billings Counties."
