Areas receiving large increases in population because of the oil boom that has hit Northeast Montana and Western North Dakota aren’t the only people adapting to the times. As new types of housing come into the area the Montana Department of Environmental Quality is experiencing growing pains of their own as they scramble to define how these subdivisions are to be regulated and how to fit them into their statutes.
In the last 20 years, there have been less than 30 new lots created in Northeast Montana but with more people flooding the area, the DEQ says those numbers are changing.
The DEQ’s Permitting and Compliance Division held an informational meeting in Culbertson on Feb. 2 at the Roosevelt County Complex. With several dozen in attendance, the DEQ was available to explain their role in the recent oil boom with regards to the public water supply and waste water and potential developers, consultants and community members interested in the growth and housing issues associated with the oil development.
“Some of the things we are seeing don’t fit into anything we have defined before. We’ve never seen the man camps and the truck servicing areas and they don’t fit neatly into our rules. Hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to get a better handle on what it is we are dealing with,” said Steven Kilbreath, DEQ’s permitting and compliance subdivision bureau.
Some community members wanted to know why the DEQ couldn’t incorporate new ways of defining the rules and standards to include the man camps and other situations that are currently a gray area but Kilbreath said those rules and criteria are statutory and changes have to come from legislation.
Under the Sanitation Subdivision Act the DEQ looks at the water quality, quantity and dependability and the proper disposal of sewage and storm water and drainage. Thier four divisions consist of planning, permitting and compliance, enforcement and remediation.
The DEQ defines a subdivision as the creation of a parcel but defines it as consisting of less than 160 acres through the Planning Act and as less than 20 acres through the Sanitation Act which typically encompasses trailer and RV parks.
According to Kilbreath, under the Public Water Supply Act, the DEQ regulates subdivisions if that parcel of land services a minimum of 25 people 60 days out of the year or if there are two or more housing units on a parcel.
The DEQ also stated that ultimately it is the towns themselves that determine whether or not to allow a subdivision access to its public water system. It is the DEQ that ensures the town and personal systems are compliant with state and federal regulations.
An area that needs evaluation is the waste water treatment plants being used by incoming businesses. One area of contention is what to do with the human waste produced at these locations. Many incoming companies don’t want to spend large amounts of money on waste water treatment facilities but instead prefer the pump and dump method. “One of the things I see as a hot button because of the oil is the public municipal waste water capacity. I think it’s a major issue and I think one of the issues I am going to take back with me to Helena is that we need to have inspections done and get these capacities identified and defined,” said Kilbreath.
For anyone planning a subdivision that will use at least 2,500 gallons of water per day they will need an engineer for the design. If the waste water system will require more than 5,000 gallons of water per day a ground water discharge permit will need to be issued and can take 180 days to receive.
As Montana communities observe what is taking place in North Dakota with the rapid growth, Kilbreath stated Montana may be better equipped to handle some of the influx more smoothly because of the County Sanitation and Subdivision Act. “We are already ahead of the game compared to North Dakota because we have this in place. This gives us a set of minimum standards that everyone has to work toward. We have big rules for little projects and we apply them evenly across the state. Our approach is to make sure our water is clean and to use a very common sense approach with what is going on,” Kilbreath stated.
Currently, in Culbertson there is some room for additional usage of the public water system which is currently capable of 1.3 million gallons of water per day. However, the Dry Prairie Rural Water System currently uses half of that amount to supply the outlying area residents with drinkable, usable water. “Until they are operating on their own, there are some limitations to how many more people we can hook up to our system. Once they are on their own we will have a lot more room for the kind of growth we may be expecting,” said Culbertson Mayor Gordon Oelkers.
The current water system was built in the early 1980s but has had many upgrades since then.
Oelkers said that currently there have been no formal contracts requested but there has been a lot of talk and inquiries.
The sewage lagoon is getting full and plans are underway to secure funding for a $4 million facility through a state rural development funding program. For the last two years there has been a sewer design project underway and the project should go up for bid this spring. “The current system is 50 years old and its life span has been used up. The slopes are bad and we can no longer control the flow,” Oelkers said. The new design will use a system of different cells that can be shut on and off and will better service a growing population.
To date there is an estimated 900 people living in Culbertson. “We’re really maxed out at this point until more housing is developed. I think the growth is good. In the 1980s we were struggling to keep the town alive and now our businesses are busy. We just have to be careful about how we build. We want permanent housing that adds to our town in a positive way,” Oelkers said.
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