Rejected in Mont., compost firm OK'd in N.D.

A Montana man believes he has found the perfect place to compost oil sludge with cow manure and other organic waste: North Dakota. Environmental regulators in Montana forced Dale Leivestad to close an operation that turned manure, straw and unsalable crude oil to compost, saying it made a mess. So Leivestad wants to start a sludge-to-compost facility a few miles over the border in sparsely populated Bowman County, where he has the blessing of the state Heal th Department. "It's going to be a very safe place to ply our trade," said Leivestad, who plans to compost oil waste on 140 acres of la...