An article in the Wednesday, July 5, 2006 online edition of the Bigfork Eagle includes a rather blunt evaluation of the downstream effects of mining on the North Fork of the Flathead River in British Columbia . . .
The goal is clear, according to Jack Stanford, director of the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS). "We need to understand what the value of this resource is in economic terms," he said, referring to the Crown of the Continent's "crown jewel" - Flathead Lake . . .
A proposal by coal mining companies to mine coal from the North Fork of the Flathead River in British Columbia is perhaps the greatest issue prompting a renewed vigor in determining the intrinsic value of the region's natural resources. The water quality detriments to the Flathead River and lake system from mountaintop mining practices in British Colombia are unknown. The threat is of concern to the scientific community.
Stanford said assessing the cumulative effects of full-scale mining for coal in the northern Flathead basin is appropriate, suggesting that if one mine is opened up then many will open. To date, scientists have been asked to assess impacts of just one or two mines. Stanford recognizes the high dollar value of the coal will determine whether or not it is mined.
"Can you mine and not influence Flathead Lake?" Stanford said that question has been posed to the scientific community. "That's an onerous thing to ask us," Stanford said. "But for me...as clean as this system is, the answer's 'No' without taking any samples at all." Stanford said expectations that all mining byproducts and pollutants would be absorbed and filtered by man-made ponds and the Elk River is difficult to believe. A lack of data on current mining effects on the Elk River compounds the issue . . .
Read the entire article . . .
Posted by nfpa at July 7, 2006 06:35 AM