Tester Comments About Proposed Fertilizer Plant In Roosevelt County

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, DMont., commented about the proposed Eastern Montana Fertilizer Project during a conference call with rural state media members on Thursday, June 20.

The fertilizer project is planned to be constructed near Culbertson by Cyan H2 LLC, The project is estimated to cost about $1.6 billion. The hope is that the lone public assistance will come from a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy that will be paid off with interest.

Tester is pleased that the project would increase America’s energy independence and lessen reliance on a global market that is shaped in part by adversaries like China and Russia.

The senator said the project’s plan needs to be submitted to committee and the proposals needs to make financial sense.

“If that happens, it will work,” Tester said.

Cyan H2 is a Montana veteran-owned business. Four principles are veterans including two West Point graduates and two U.S. Naval graduates.

Early estimates are that the project will create 3,200 jobs including 2,000 during the construction phase, 200 permanent jobs and 1,000 of in-direct jobs created through economic opportunities.

Also during the conference call, Tester discussed the Fort Belknap Water Compact to deliver critical relief after last week’s St. Mary siphon failure.

“This disaster has already caused extensive damage to the canal itself as well as local businesses and will have a real impact on irrigators in the surrounding area if we aren’t able to start work on this immediately,” Tester said. “Just after the initial siphon burst, I sent a letter to the Biden Administration calling on them to provide immediate support for the local community, small businesses and irrigators.”

Tester is pleased that the Department of Veteran Affairs recently announced it approved the one millionth PACT Act disability claim.

“This is a big damn deal for our toxic-exposed veterans and survivors, and it’s proof that the PACT Act is working for our veterans and their families,” Tester said. “For far too long, our nation failed to honor its promises to our veterans exposed to toxins in military conflicts across the globe, and I’m proud to see the PACT Act is now making a real difference in veterans’ lives.”

When asked about illegal use of fentanyl increasing, he responded, “It drives me crazy.” He noted that some of the people screaming about the problem are the same ones who voted against increased border security three or four months ago.

“The border needs to be fixed, let’s fix it,” Tester said. “People voted against it for political reasons.”

He said he supports recent moves by President Biden regarding border security but wishes it happened earlier.