January 17, 2007

Coal mine takes center stage

From the Wednesday, January 17, 2007 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .

Gov. Brian Schweitzer Monday promised to take the fight against a proposed coal mine in the Canadian Flathead to the federal level.

Sen. Max Baucus promised to pursue the matter as well. Both spoke at the Flathead Basin Commission's meeting on Cline Mining Co.'s proposal to dig a coal mine 22 miles north of Glacier National Park.

“I'm interested in developing alternative sources of energy, but this is not what has been proposed in the upper Flathead,” Schweitzer told a crowd of about 200 people.

The mine has been a controversial proposal with area groups saying it would impact the Flathead River drainage.

The mine would take off the top of a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, which is a tributary of the North Fork of the Flathead.

Schweitzer said he would ask the federal government to intervene.

Read the entire article . . .

Posted by nfpa at January 17, 2007 02:26 PM