From the Tuesday, July 20, 2004 issue of the Hungry Horse News . . .
British Columbia announced late last week it would go ahead with tenure sales for the development of coal bed methane wells that could be located about 15 miles from Glacier National Park in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River.
The North Fork forms most of the park's western boundary and is protected as a Wild and Scenic River here in Montana.
In Canada, however, it doesn't enjoy the same protections.
A tenure sale gives a private company the gas rights to Crown-owned lands.
The environmental review of the development comes after the rights are sold, said Shawn Robins, spokesman for the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Coal bed methane extraction comes from pumping huge volumes of water out of coal seams underground. That relives the pressure on natural gas that then comes to the surface and is piped out of the area.
Both Canadians and Montanans have raised concerns about the development because of its potential impacts on fish and wildlife. Coal bed methane wells are spaced close together and require a network of roads and clearings to maintain. The concern is they could impact everything from grizzly bears to mountain caribou to fish stocks in the river.
Read the entire article . . .
Posted by nfpa at July 20, 2004 02:00 PM