Home
History
Environmental Threat
Site Characterization
Man. Gas Processes
Plant Wastes
Contamination Threat Modes
Residuals - Components
Sources of MGP Liquid Effluent
FMG Plants in the US
Parallel MG Technologies
Think you've found a gas works?
Locating and Confirming a Site
Locations of US Gas Plants
FMGP In The News
FMGP In The Arts
Coal-tar Site Litigation
Related sites on the Internet
Literature of Manufactured Gas
Hatheway Harangues
Publications by Dr. Hatheway
Slide Shows by Dr. Hatheway
Slide Shows by others
Hatheway Bio
Hatheway Resume
Legal Considerations

Locations of Gas Plants and Other Coal-tar Sites in the U.S.

► THE STATE OF MONTANA 

Introduction: 

            The Treasure State suffered from a deficit of local financing, as in the mining states in general, the money earned from resources stayed in San Francisco and in the Northeast. Only eight fairly late plants were built, all relatively small and operating mainly on the plentiful coal delivered by rail, first on the Northern Pacific, arriving as far west as Missoula, in September 1883. Eastern capitol, mainly from Chicago, played a part in creation of the plants. Eventually, three of the plants fell into the control of Montana Power Company, a creation of mining baron, U.S. Senator William Andrews Clark in 1908, at which time its electric generation capacity went to power the arriving Milwaukee Road, Minneapolis to Seattle. The remainder of Montana’s manufactured gas plants became owned, in time, by the Montana-Dakota Power Company and the Helena Gas Company, the latter of which had ownership of one of the two Helena plants, over its entire operational period (1909-1928).

            Montana natural gas began to put an end to the MGPs with the 1931 high pressure pipeline of Montana Power Company, from its Cut Bank (MT) field to Helena and Butte. Missoula and Great Falls were being served with natural gas pipeline from the Sunburst Field, and Billings from the Elk Basin Field, all within the State.

            PAH compounds were identified in ground water below the Livingston Rail Yards of the former Northern Pacific Railroad, in the early 1990s but have been steadfastly ignored by the Montana Office of EPA Region VIII in its oversight of the cleanup, which has been based only on chlorinated solvents. The vast yards and shops no doubt employed a gas producer as a source of founding and casting fuel.

Click the blue "EPA" link below to view the Montana map of the EPA 1985 Radian FMGP Report.	Click the green "Hatheway" link below to view the Montana map of Professor Hatheway's research.