From the Sunday, June 19, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
A new plan to "fast track" coal mining north of Glacier National Park would leave no time to collect the scientific information necessary to gauge the mine's downstream impact.
"I think there's a very strong concern that we would not be able to collect the needed baseline data," said Rich Moy, chairman of the Flathead Basin Commission.
The state commission was formed in the 1980s to watch over the international watershed pouring south from British Columbia into Montana's Flathead Valley. At the time, coal mining was proposed not far from Glacier Park's northern border, and downstream interests worried pollutants would flow south into Flathead Lake.
Federal agencies in the two countries eventually sent the dispute to the International Joint Commission, a bi-national group established by treaty to resolve transboundary water disputes.
The IJC ruled against the mine in 1988, saying it could pollute Montana waters and affect fisheries that span the border.
Moy was secretariat to the IJC's U.S. Investigative Board at the time, and has since watched several development proposals come and go in the Canadian Flathead - including an active plan to mine coal in the headwaters of the North Fork Flathead River.
Through it all, he said, Montana has consistently asked for one thing: a comprehensive study of baseline conditions, so any future degradation could be quantified.
Recently, Gov. Brian Schweitzer asked for exactly that, requesting the two countries recommend a sweeping IJC review of water quality and other environmental conditions in the Canadian Flathead.
Several analysts, including British Columbia's own consultants, have agreed that collecting the data would require a minimum of three years.
But Cline Mining Corp., which has been drilling exploratory holes in the headwaters of the Flathead, now says it will have all mining infrastructure in place and be hauling commercial coal in 15 months.
Read the entire article . . .