The Dakota Resource Council files a complaint with North Dakota Public Service Commission to halt the construction of the coal beneficiation plant for the South Heart Gasification plant. In January 2009, the Dakota Resource Council with other nearby landowners filed a complaint with the North Dakota Public Service Commission stating that the beneficiation plant under construction for the South Heart Gasification plant without a permit should, in fact, be required to apply for a permit per North Dakota law.

GTL Energy has begun the construction of the coal beneficiation plant with the understanding that it had a decision by the North Dakota Public Service Commission that a permit was not necessary. GTL Energy is the supplier of the lignite beneficiation process technology. The GTL beneficiation process will remove most of the water and creates a coal briquette.

The Dakota Resource Council along with several land owners is challenging both the gasification plant and the beneficiation facility. The Dakota Resource Council has sent a formal complaint to the Public Service Commission (PSC) stating among other things that the PSC was outside of the law of North Dakota to approve the construction of the beneficiation plant without issuing a permit. At issue is the definition of the beneficiation plant. If the coal beneficiation plant is considered to be an integral part of the coal mine, then it’s likely that the PSC will have to retract it’s approval and GTL Energy will have to seek a permit.

Great Northern Power Development and Allied Syngas are developing a coal gasification plant near South Heart, ND. The joint venture submitted an application to the Stark County Planning and Zoning Commission with a request to re-zone land near South Heart that was zoned for agricultural use to change the zone to industrial for coal mining.