An environmental group says open meeting law was violated when a group proposing a synthetic gas plant near South Heart invited public officials to a lunch meeting and the public wasn't notified.

The Dakota Resource Council also says that Gov. John Hoeven was at the same Dec. 14 meeting in Dickinson and that South Heart City Councilman Greg Krance was denied access when he tried to attend.

The resource council wants the attorney general to opine whether the county should have made public notice when a quorum of commissioners and the governor attended an informational session sponsored by Great Northern Power Development on a $1.4 billion coal project it's hoping to develop in Stark County.

Great Northern spokesman Neal Messer said the company held the luncheon to explain plans to build a plant to liquefy lignite into a synthetic natural gas, like at Beulah's Dakota Gasification Co., instead of pulverizing the soft coal and burning it for electricity, as originally planned.

It's possible the dramatic change in plans could make it easier for Great Northern to get air quality permits because making synthetic gas captures carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that's under the gun for new regulations.

The topic is at the forefront because Great Northern filed an application with the Stark County Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone a 17-section area for coal mining west and south of South Heart.

The zoners will hear the application at 7 p.m. Jan. 3 at the Stark County Courthouse in Dickinson.

Mark Trechock, the resource council's staff director, asked the attorney general to require that the county restage the Dec. 14 meeting before any zoning application is heard.

He said the two of the three Stark County commissioners who were at the lunch meeting also are members of the county zoning board.

"This is called doing business," Trechock said.

Messer said no one was denied access to the lunch and that room was made for everyone when more people showed than were invited.

Krance himself says it didn't happen as described by Trechock.

In his complaint to the attorney general, Trechock said Krance was told, "they would not open the doors, and that they would not let people in or out of the room during the meeting."

Krance said he arrived late, found the door locked, knocked and left when no one came to open it.

He said he was on his lunch hour and didn't have much time. "No one came (to the door), so I left. I didn't push the issue," Krance said.

Messer said the doors were closed when everyone was seated for lunch. "No way were they locked," he said.

George Nodland, a Stark County commissioner, said he assumed "all was kosher" when he attended the lunch meeting and that he had a "sure, let them in," attitude and believes the project will be good for Stark County. He said he wasn't aware that anyone tried to get in and couldn't.

Nodland said it's a question for the county's legal counsel whether the public should have known that a county quorum would attend the lunch.

Mary Kae Kelsch, an assistant attorney general, said it could take up to 90 days for the office to issue on opinion in the matter.

In general terms, the law requires public notice when an elected quorum will be getting information about public business, as opposed to attending a purely social event, Kelsch said.

Kelsch said it's a common misconception among public officials that no notice is required if "there's no decision-making and they're just getting information."

Don Canton, spokesman for Hoeven, said the governor assumes such meetings are open to the public.

Canton said the attorney general will look into whether the situation constituted any impropriety.

Trechock said the resource council's members plan to petition Stark County zoners to delay action on Great Northern's mine application until an environmental impact study is done on the proposed gasification project.

Messer said environmental concerns should be considered by state agencies, though he understands the desire by some to impose local control on the project.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 1-888-303-5511, or lauren@;westriv.com.)