If U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., didn’t know the extent of dire issues in Richland County before Tuesday, he does now.

The junior senator stopped in Sidney for a meeting with Sidney city and county leaders to discuss issues relative to Richland County. Much of the discussion swirled around the oil industry, which Tester said was a good thing for eastern Montana as far as employment and national security.

He speculated residents from the western part of the state may be flocking to the east when winter weather hits and seasonal summer jobs have finished. That brought about the omnipresent housing issue. Tester encouraged Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser and the county commissioners to bring the issue up with state Rep. Walt McNutt, R-Sidney, and Sen. Don Steinbeisser, R-Sidney, to “at least have the dag gone debate in Helena.”

“It’s hard to get the support for that type of legislation,” Commissioner Mark Rehbein said.

The commissioner informed Tester of the road problems the county has due to oil truck traffic – Highway 201 in particular. “It’s just a travesty out here,” Rehbein said. Trucks flip over when they fall off the narrow roadway. But the county can’t use state funds because it’s a secondary state highway. There are other state projects that come before it. The road has been a site for traffic fatalities.

“We’ve lost count of the number of semis that have gone off,” Commissioner Don Steppler said.

Tester also spoke of national legislation for cap and trade, which looks like a dying issue. “At this point in time it’s not going to happen,” he said. It all depends on the design of the legislation. If designed poorly, it won’t work, and it “may not even come back up.”

Oil, gas and coal will stick around for a long time, and the conversion from fossil fuels to renewable energy will take at least a few decades. “It’s nothing we’re taking up soon, I’ll tell you that,” he said, “and it’s going to be a lengthy debate.”

Meanwhile, the senator said he supports horizontal fracking unless the water used in the process is extremely contaminated and would hurt the environment. To his knowledge, he said however, fracking has been proven safe. He was encouraged to learn more about the process.

Tester was informed of the MonDak Energy Alliance which plans to build, among other things, a 20,000 barrel-a-day refinery to start with and eventually expand to 100,000 barrels. The alliance looks to capitalize on natural resources in the area that include ethanol and wind. Tester appeared to be in support of the project.

Other topics of discussion during the 45-minute meeting included the upcoming “Bush tax cuts” that will expire at the end of the year as well as the estate tax and the Intake Dam modification project to save the pallid sturgeon. Tester said he’s heard the project is progressing nicely and shouldn’t harm irrigators along the canal.

“If you guys are hearing something that isn’t good, we need to know about it,” he said.

After his stop in Sidney, Tester was headed to Scobey and Whitetail.

reporter@sidneyherald.com