Region 8

MHA Nation Clean Fuels Refinery

Regional Information

(Name changed to Thunder Butte Petroleum Services in July 2012)

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation proposes to build a new 13,000 barrel-per-day petroleum refinery on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation located near Makoti, North Dakota. The MHA Nation would own and operate the refinery. The proposed facility would refine Bakken formation crude oil into diesel fuel, gasoline and propane. The facility was renamed Thunder Butte Petroleum in July 2012.

refinery location map

Chronology:

August 2009	EPA Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
July 2011	The EPA prepares a Supplemental Information Report (SIR) to assess the potential changes in impact resulting from a change in feedstock, following a decision by the MHA Nation to change crude feedstocks to the local Bakken formation crude.
August 2011	EPA Issues Record of Decision and NPDES Permit for the NHA Nation Refinery. The decision to issue the permit is based on the EIS prepared by the EPA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
September 2011	Appeals filed with EPA Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).
November 2011	EPA reevaluates six of the NPDES permit limits as a result of appeals to the EPA Environmental Appeals Board, public notice of revised permit lmits.
June 28, 2012	EPA Environmental Appeals Board issues Order Dismissing Petitions and Denying Review.
July 20, 2012	EPA Reissues NPDES Permit to Thunder Butte Petroleum Services. The NPDES permit, issued under the Clean Water Act, details the required conditions and limitations of discharges from the facility. The permit will allow the proposed refinery to discharge treated wastewater into a tributary of the East Fork of Shell Creek.

2011 Revision of MHA Refinery NPDES permit ND-0030988

The permit limits for several compounds were revised when technical errors were discovered in the technology based effluent limits in the 2011 NPDES permit for the MHA Nation Clean Fuels Refinery. The discharge limits were revised to be more stringent for six compounds. The other discharge limits and conditions were unchanged.