Stop methane drilling

Dave Hadden

Montanan's have just days to convince the B.C. Premier to cancel sale.

Montana's fabled North Fork Flathead River that forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park is about to be irrevocably polluted. Montanans must join with our governor, Judy Martz, Congressional delegation, local communities and chambers of commerce, and even the town of Fernie, B.C., and ask the B.C. Premier to cancel planned coal bed methane sales. Montanans should go to www.flatheadcoalition.org to learn how to reach the B.C. Premier. If you love the North Fork, please write a letter today. The sale concludes on August 25, 2004.

British Columbia decided recently to "fast-track" proposals to open up the North Fork's headwaters (as well as the Kootenai) to coal bed methane development. Coal bed methane, or CBM, can only be extracted by the removal of millions of gallons of polluted water. The B.C. proposal would discharge that dirty water into surface streams that flow, in turn, to the North Fork. Though only test wells have been drilled, the imminent sale of the gas leases will lead irrevocably to the pollution of Montana's premier Wild and Scenic River.

Few people agree with the way the B.C. government is handling this vitally important issue. Even Michael Gatens, chair of the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas and CEO of MGV Energy Inc., a Calgary-based coal bed methane producer, said recently, "The concept of fast tracking a project like this makes no sense. These kinds of projects in such environmentally sensitive areas are going to take a lot of time to even make the decision to develop."

So what's B.C.'s hurry? The province suffers from budget problems, and must also raise funds to produce the next Winter Olympic Games. But at what price and at whose expense does B.C. correct past mistakes or spend for the future? B.C. leaders in Vancouver seem oblivious to anyone's concerns but their own.

Governor Martz wrote B.C. saying, "our concern is that ground-disturbing activities and wastewater discharge is likely to commence before an environmental baseline is established and before a comprehensive assessment is completed."

Fernie resident Ted Ralf has said, "Following our own experience, our neighbors in Montana are now discovering the casual attitude of the (B.C.) government with respect to science and fact. British Columbia shows no more regard for the reasonable concerns of its American neighbors than it has for those of its own citizens."

And Montana Senator Max Baucus' office recently said, "If Canada does anything that would pollute Montana's treasured Flathead River, they're asking for an all-out fight."

Please take a moment today to write B.C.'s Premier, Gordon Campbell. Tell him why you value the North Fork River. Ask him to postpone the CBM sale until the joint U.S./Canadian commission (the IJC) completes a thorough environmental review. Go to www.flatheadcoalition.org to learn more.

Dave Hadden is a member of the Montana Wilderness Association.