From the Friday, August 27, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Two controversial coalbed methane leases in British Columbia failed to attract any bidders this week, with the gas industry unanimously opting out of what was fast becoming an international incident.
"Needless to say, we are very pleased with the results of the auction," said David Thomas, a city councilman in Fernie, B.C., and a member of Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane.
Wednesday, British Columbia's government put 27 parcels of land up for auction to oil and gas companies. All but two of the leases were purchased.
The two receiving no bids were located along the international border with Montana, north of Glacier National Park and Koocanusa Reservoir.
"Obviously, we are pleased to see that development is not inevitable," said Gov. Judy Martz. "Developers must obviously recognize the need for preliminary environmental assessments before they make an investment. From Montana's standpoint, there were just too many questions as to the potential impacts from full-scale development."
For months, Martz and other downstream interests have expressed concerns that methane development in southern British Columbia might disrupt wildlife and pollute water in Montana.
British Columbia officials have repeatedly countered that methane fields would have no negative environmental impacts south of the border.
But Montana's congressional delegation remained unconvinced, as did the governor's office. They joined leaders of state, federal and tribal land-use agencies in asking British Columbia to delay the lease auction until scientific baseline data could be collected. Business and civic groups on both sides of the border also joined the call for a comprehensive study into possible cumulative effects prior to exploration.
And when British Columbia's government refused to delay the auction, the battle was taken to Ottowa, with requests that Canada's federal government intervene.
Wednesday's failed auction, however, makes such intervention unnecessary.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, August 27, 2004 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
"No bids" was the surprising result of an auction for controversial coal bed methane leases in southeastern British Columbia.
The province posted the results of Wednesday's auction on the Internet Thursday morning.
A coalition of Montana and Canadian property owners, businesses, tribes, recreation groups and conservationists today applauded oil and gas companies for declining to bid on the leases.
The leases were offered for drilling rights on 4,900 acres of land divided into two parcels in the Flathead and Elk river watersheds.
Coalition representatives considered the lack of bids a victory in a political battle that has carried on for several months. Montana's top elected officials had been pressing the province and Canada's federal government to conduct comprehensive environmental assessments before awarding exploratory drilling leases.
"Certainly, the fact that there were no bids has to be partly attributed to our campaign of education and our request to all oil and gas companies to refrain from bidding," said Dave Thomas, a member of the city council in Fernie, British Columbia.
"We're giving credit to the oil and gas companies for having good sense ... Anybody bidding on this would know that it is politically perilous and they would get caught up in an international conflict."
Thomas and other representatives from the coalition recently met with Canadian oil and gas executives, urging them to steer clear of the Flathead and Elk river leases.
"We met with them and asked them not to get involved in this contentious issue, and they have responded positively to our request," said Rose Schwennesen, a Bigfork Realtor and vice president of the Montana-based Flathead Coalition. "We applaud the companies for their clear-sighted pragmatism."
Read the entire article . . .
From our friends at the Flathead Coalition and Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane comes this press release concerning the failure of the coalbed methane lease auction in southeastern British Columbia . . .
Flathead Coalition
867 N. Main Street * Kalispell, Montana 59901
Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane
Box 508, Fernie V0B 1M0
For Immediate Release - August 26, 2004
Contact: Rose Schwennesen, Bigfork, MT. 406-837-2575
Ted Ralfe, Fernie, BC. 250-423-6844
David Thomas, Fernie, BC. 250-423-5034
Steve Thompson, Whitefish, MT. 406-862-6722
Industry Declines to Bid on Rights to Drill for Coalbed Methane in Transboundary Rocky Mountains
Transboundary alliance applauds industry’s “clear-sighted pragmatism”
FERNIE, British Columbia, and KALISPELL, Montana, August 26, 2004 — A cross-border coalition of property owners, businesses, tribes, recreation groups and conservationists today applauded oil and gas companies for declining to bid in a controversial auction of methane drilling rights in the Flathead and Elk watersheds along the Montana-British Columbia border.
There were “NO BIDS” for the two drilling leases, one covering the headwaters of the Flathead River and the other draining into tributaries of the Elk River, according to results posted today by the Province of British Columbia.
A Montana-British Columbia alliance of community groups today thanked Canadian and multinational energy companies for refusing to participate in the license auction. Members of the alliance had met with oil and gas executives to ask that they refrain from competing for rights to gas beneath the ecologically rich Rocky Mountain lands north of the boundary between British Columbia and Montana. The alliance urged the companies to desist until there has been a comprehensive and credible assessment of the cumulative effects coalbed methane drilling would have on the wildlife, water and air shared by Canadian and the United States.
“We met with them and asked them not to get involved in this contentious issue, and they have responded positively to our request,” says Rose Schwennesen, a Bigfork Realtor and vice president of the Montana-based Flathead Coalition. “We applaud the companies for their clear-sighted pragmatism.”
The alliance of community groups, along with Montana Governor Judy Martz, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and Fernie City Council, had repeatedly requested a comprehensive environmental and economic impact analysis prior to sale of coalbed methane drilling rights.
Ted Ralfe, spokesman for the Fernie-based Citizens Concerned about Coalbed Methane, said that the cross-border alliance will continue to work together to protect the water, wildlife and wildlands of the transboundary Rockies.
“We don’t want to have this same fight three years from now,” Ralfe said. “We don’t want to have another battle over open-pit coal mining next to Glacier National Park ten years from now. We’ve developed some wonderful working relationships and friendships, so let’s continue together towards permanent protection of the values that make this such a special place to live on both sides of the border.”
Ralfe says the alliance looks forward to working with the Canadian subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell on a separate exploratory drilling project for lands between Fernie and Sparwood owned by Elk Valley Coal Company. “We want the same comprehensive watershed assessment and environmental baseline studies that we’ve been requesting for the lease blocks,” he said. “Whether it’s private land or public land, the water flows into the same transboundary river system. We fully expect Shell to work constructively with our communities to do this right.”
- end -
By SUSAN GALLAGHER
Associated Press Writer Thursday, August 26, 2004
HELENA, Mont. - The British Columbia government's sale of coal-bed methane leases in the southeastern corner of the province, a sale Montana's governor opposed for environmental reasons, has drawn no bids.
"Of all the scenarios we anticipated, this wasn't one of them," said David Thomas, a City Council member in Fernie, British Columbia, and a leading critic of drilling for coal-bed methane in that area.
"This demonstrates the power of working together across the border and the value of this landscape to both sides," Thomas said.
Michael Gatens, chairman of the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas, said potential bidders apparently decided risks and costs were too great. Tests over the past 20 years in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta yielded some disappointing results, Gatens said from his office in Calgary, Alberta.
Thomas said opponents of drilling were influential in deterring bids, but Gatens said that "for most of the players, that's something you're always going to be dealing with, and that's OK."
The British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines said many things influence prospective bidders, and over the span of a year, more than 10 percent of leases offered by the ministry go unsold.
Gov. Judy Martz had said British Columbia was moving too rapidly to join the emerging coal-bed methane industry, active in Montana, and could end up harming water in the Flathead River system, which enters Montana from the province. The North Fork of the Flathead forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park, the state's crown jewel.
This summer she asked, apparently to no avail, that Canada's federal government rein-in British Columbia on the coal-bed methane issue by requiring a full environmental study before the sale of leases. Others calling for a study included the 22-member Flathead Basin Commission, created by the Montana Legislature to protect the watershed. The Fernie City Council called repeatedly for a thorough study before selling leases.
British Columbia officials began accepting bids in July for rights to explore for coal-bed methane beneath some 4,900 acres of land divided into two parcels. They accepted bids until the middle of this week but announced Thursday there were none.
Earlier this year, a proposed coal mine in southeastern British Columbia also raised concern in Montana over environmental issues. Provincial officials said they would not let mining proceed, but they said coal-bed methane leasing was an entirely different matter and would be encouraged.
Thomas said that with no leases sold and the mine blocked, attention now turns to Shell Canada Limited's plan to explore for coal-bed methane this fall in southeastern British Columbia. Shell and Elk Valley Coal Co. are collaborating on plans to explore beneath coal company land between Fernie and Sparwood, British Columbia.
"The fight's not over," Thomas said.
From the Friday, August 27, 2004 issue of the Vancouver Sun . . .
VANCOUVER (CP) -- An environmental group says no energy companies have submitted bids for controversial coalbed methane-extraction leases in southeastern British Columbia.
The East Kootenay Environmental Society today thanked oil and gas firms for refraining from bidding for rights auctioned by the B.C. government south of Fernie, B.C., near the border with Montana. The deadline for bids was Wednesday.
Local environmentalists and the Montana government opposed plans to auction coalbed-methane leases in the transboundary Rocky Mountain region before a complete environmental assessment had been done.
They fear the drilling will produce large amounts of polluted, saline water that will damage the local watershed and will find its way into the Elk and Flathead Rivers flowing south into Montana.
Society spokesman Casey Brennan said the absence of bids shows energy companies recognize it's risky and reckless to proceed without a thorough assessment of the risk of development on wildlife, air and water on both sides of the border.
In an interview from Calgary, Brennan credited a vigourous lobbying effort by Fernie-area residents and environmental activists with deterring the bids.
But he also said the prospect of an international flap over the issue may have spooked companies away from the auction.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, August 26, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Despite urgent pleas from state and federal leaders, British Columbia's government wrapped up an auction Wednesday to lease coalbed methane fields north of Glacier National Park.
The auction ended at noon Wednesday, but provincial officials said they would not post the results until Thursday morning.
"We're disappointed, of course," said Brad Keena, spokesman for Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont. "The next step is to go directly to British Columbia on this. There's still time now to get the environmental assessments before they start drilling."
Rehberg wrote to both the Canadian and U.S. federal governments recently, asking that the countries undertake a bi-national environmental study before the auction took place.
Similar requests were made by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., as well as heads of several federal, state and tribal land-use agencies. Montana Gov. Judy Martz also wrote to British Columbia and Ottawa, asking the Canadians to collect baseline watershed data before auctioning the lands.
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce also signed on requesting study before the auction, as did the town council in Fernie, British Columbia.
Their concern was that the coalbed methane fields at issue are located near the Montana border, and development could impact wildlife and water quality south of the border. They were particularly worried about lands in and around Glacier Park and Koocanusa Reservoir.
But according to Keena, Rehberg's office has heard no response from Canada's federal government, and the U.S. State Department sent only a "noncommittal" letter.
"It takes time," Rehberg said in a phone interview Wednesday. "Any time you're involved in international relations, you just don't order people around. Working in diplomacy always takes time."
And while Rehberg and others were diplomatically sending letters back and forth, British Columbia was quietly moving ahead with the "tenure" auction. The companies that win tenure receive a five-year right to explore for methane. They also are saddled with an obligation, and must actively explore or else lose tenure on the land.
Read the entire article . . .
The Hungry Horse News published an exasperated editorial about coalbed methane development in B.C. . .
Next Wednesday British Columbia plans on auctioning off leases for coal bed methane development in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead and the Kootenai Rivers.
Both rivers are special places here in the U.S.
National treasures, in fact.
That's why it bothers us when we see an often cavalier attitude by the Canadian government on CBM development there.
Simply put, full-blown coal bed methane development in British Columbia has the potential to adversely impact Glacier National Park, its wildlife and its waters.
That shouldn't be acceptable to anyone. Not here in the U.S. or in British Columbia.
Representatives on both sides of Montana's political spectrum have written letters of concern to the Canadians. To date, there is little, if any, positive response from the Canadian government.
Teddy Roosevelt liked the West African proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
It served him well in his presidency.
If we can't wake the Canadian government up in the next few days, perhaps we, too, should begin to wield the proverbial stick.
It needs to be clear that the provincial government of British Columbia said "no" to Montana Governor Martz's request of a delay and an environmental review before the tenures (leases) for coalbed methane projects are let on August 25, 2004.
However, the Canadian government in the persons of the Minister of Environment Canada and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have not yet answered the letter sent by Governor Martz on July 26. (See "Gov. Martz requests Canadian federal intervention in B.C. coalbed methane development" for the text of the Governor's letter. See the second half of this article for the letter sent by the NFPA on August 12.)
Please write a letter of concern to the ministers listed below echoing what the Governor said and then fax a copy to Judy Martz and those on the carbon copy list. The time is very short.
We suggest faxing because August 25 is very near, the Canadian Ministers need immediate encouragement and there is a substantial delay for letters going to Washington, D.C. because of security reasons.
For those of you unfamiliar with Montana politics, Judy Martz is not running again for Governor. She is not using the coalbed methane issue as an election ploy but, rather, trying to do the right thing. Please read her letter carefully.
Thank you for what you can do,
The North Fork Preservation Association
The ministers to write/fax to:
The Honourable Stephane Dion
Minister, Environment Canada
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington St., 28th Floor
Hull, Quebec,
K1A 0H3
(819) 953-3457 (fax)
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister, Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, Canada
K1A 0G2
(613) 996-9709 (fax)
Fax numbers of officials who should be copied in:
Governor Judy Martz - (406) 444-4151
Premier Gordon Campbell - (250) 387-0087
Secretary of State Colin Powell - (202) 647-2283
Sen. Conrad Burns - (406) 257-3974
Sen. Max Baucus - (406) 756-1152
Rep. Dennis Rehberg - (202) 225-5687
The letter sent by the NFPA to Ministers Dion and Pettigrew . . .
North Fork Preservation Association
80 Beaver Drive, Polebridge, MT 59928
August 12, 2004
The Honourable Stephane Dion
Minister, Environment Canada
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington St., 28th Floor
Hull, Quebec
K1A OH3
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister, Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
KlA OG2
Dear Ministers Dion and Pettigrew,
Many people in Montana are rightly concerned about water quality relating to cross-boundary pollution from coalbed methane in the Kootenay and Flathead drainages of British Columbia, but what does this do to the fisheries, water quality and wildlife of your country?
Wastewater produced with coalbed methane has proven to be very problematic in producing CBM basins in the United States, and current data from the only coalbed methane site in British Columbia indicates that it will be a problem for water quality and fisheries in British Columbia. The current test for the toxicity of CBM wastewater places ten rainbow trout in a container of treated wastewater. If five of the ten rainbow trout survive, then the water passes. If six rainbow die, the water fails. For the pilot project in B.C., the wastewater sometimes passes the test and sometimes fails. As you know, rainbow trout are tough fish - the native Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat would not fare as well as the rainbow.
Any water deemed unsuitable must be re-injected into the ground. The problem is that in the steep, rocky valleys of B.C., this will not work - the highly fracture coal geology prevents the water from staying where it is re-injected. Therefore, it must be released to the environment.
Discharged water may contain high levels of chloride, bicarbonate, sodium, ammonia, selenium and iron, a high pH and no oxygen. Fish and the aquatic insects upon which they often feed don't have tolerance for these elements in their aquatic environment. Ammonium is known to be lethal to fish at the levels at which it is present in coalbed methane wastewater.
Also, in order to get at the methane, the aquifer must be pumped dry for perhaps two years to allow the methane to flow. Each well will pump 20 to 200 gallons per minute. What does this do to the water table? Is the land going to sink?
On July 8, B.C. posted two tenures for coalbed methane exploration with a total of 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres). The National Post Backlash Opinion Column of August 4 has an article on coalbed methane which says: "Land disturbance is mostly confined to postage-stamp-sized drilling sites." This is certainly an understatement.
Here are conservative estimates for wells drilled in relatively flat areas (Powder River and San Juan Basin). Consider this habitat loss in a region that contains all of the large carnivore species that remain in North America., all of which are vulnerable to industrialization of their native habitat:
(from a University of Montana master's thesis by Erin Sexton, numbers directly taken from the Bureau of Land Management Draft Environmental Impact Statements for Montana, Wyoming and Colorado)
Transboundary water pollution is one very important issue, but do you know what the coalbed methane wells do to the fisheries and wildlife of your own country?
Sincerely,
John Frederick, Jr.
President, NFPA
From the Thursday, August 19, 2004 issue of the Headwaters News . . .
A team of Canadian attorneys have added their voices to the choir of people calling for environmental study prior to coalbed methane exploration in British Columbia. At issue are potential gas fields north of Glacier National Park and Koocanusa Reservoir, with downstream interests in Montana worrying that wastewater could pollute rivers and affect fisheries south of the border, and gaswell sites could disrupt transboundary wildlife corridors.
"It makes sense to study this in advance," said Karen Campbell, staff counsel for West Coast Environmental Law, based in Vancouver, B.C.
On Tuesday, Campbell fired a letter to Piere Pettigrew, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Stephan Dion, Minister of the Environment, asking that Ottawa intervene in British Columbia's CBM plans.
Specifically, Campbell's letter requests that Canada's federal government invoke the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, appointing a federal panel to study potential environmental impacts prior to CBM development.
Read the entire article . . .
Jay Martin
Deputy Chief of Staff
Congressman Denny Rehberg (MT-At Large)
202-225-3211
NEWS | Denny Rehberg
August 11, 2004
CONTACT: Brad Keena - 202-225-2490
Rehberg: Let International Joint Commission Mediate B.C. Coalbed Dispute
Rehberg letters today urge U.S. and Canada to press for environmental assessment
WASHINGTON - Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), today urged both the U.S. and Canada to ask the International Joint Commission (IJC) to review British Columbia's decision to publicly auction coalbed methane leases on August 25. The IJC will step in only if both countries make such a request.
"The date is looming and this may be our last resort," Rehberg explained. "Gov. Martz last month urged Canada to study the impact of methane drilling before allowing exploratory development so close to the headwaters of the Flathead River, but her common sense request has been ignored."
In letters faxed to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew today, Rehberg urged the two countries to petition the IJC to resolve the issue.
"Up to this point, the British Columbian and the Canadian governments have shown no willingness to first conduct an environmental assessment of proposed coalbed natural gas exploration sites in an area of British Columbia neighboring Glacier National Park in Montana," Rehberg, a member of the House Resources Committee, wrote. "My concern is that the province is forgoing proper environmental protections in an effort to hasten this lease sale."
The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its purpose is to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters and to advise Canada and the United States on related questions.
"A completed environmental assessment statement will identify the risks, if any, these proposed coal bed methane leases pose to the Flathead and Kootenai watersheds, downstream waters, wildlife, and Montana communities," Rehberg wrote.
LETTERS ATTACHED
# # #
August 11, 2004
The Honorable Colin Powell (202) 647-2283 (fax) (no email address available)
Secretary of State
U.S. State Department
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Powell:
I write urging you to request the International Joint Commission to review the decision by Canada's British Columbia Province to publicly auction coalbed methane leases on August 25, 2004.
Up to this point, the British Columbian and the Canadian governments have shown no willingness to first conduct an environmental assessment of proposed coalbed natural gas exploration sites in an area of British Columbia neighboring Glacier National Park in Montana. My concern is that the province is forgoing proper environmental protections in an effort to hasten this lease sale.
A completed environmental assessment statement will identify the risks, if any, these proposed coal bed methane leases pose to the Flathead and Kootenai watersheds, downstream waters, wildlife, and Montana communities.
I therefore request you petition the International Joint Commission to help resolve this issue.
Thank you in advance for your quick response to this request.
Sincerely,
Denny Rehberg (202) 225-5687 (fax)
Member of Congress
August 11, 2004
Honourable Pierre Pettigrew (613) 996-9709 (fax) (pierre.pettigrew@dfait-maeci.gc.ga)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, Canada
K1A 0G2
Dear Foreign Minister Pettigrew:
I write urging you to request the International Joint Commission to review the decision by Canada's British Columbia Province to publicly auction coalbed methane leases on August 25, 2004.
Up to this point, the British Columbian and the Canadian governments have shown no willingness to first conduct an environmental assessment of proposed coalbed natural gas exploration sites in an area of British Columbia neighboring Glacier National Park in Montana. My concern is that the province is forgoing proper environmental protections in an effort to hasten this lease sale.
A completed environmental assessment statement will identify the risks, if any, these proposed coal bed methane leases pose to the Flathead and Kootenai watersheds, downstream waters, wildlife, and Montana communities.
I therefore request you petition the International Joint Commission to help resolve this issue.
Thank you in advance for your quick response to this request.
Sincerely,
Denny Rehberg
Member of Congress
From the Thursday, August 12, 2004 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Rep. Dennis Rehberg has joined Montana's governor in calling on Canada's federal government to require an environmental study of potential impacts of coal-bed methane development in British Columbia.
In letters to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew, Rehberg, R-Mont., requests that the U.S. and Canadian governments petition the International Joint Commission to review concerns that have been raised.
The British Columbia provincial government intends to publicly auction coal-bed methane leases in the upper Flathead and Elk River drainages on Aug. 25, clearing the way for companies to begin exploration for methane gas.
The provincial government intends to proceed with the auction without first conducting an environmental assessment outlining the potential cumulative impacts caused by gas exploration or development.
Montana organizations and individuals are concerned about potential downstream impacts that could cross the border into Montana. Opposition has also been voiced in British Columbia communities such as Fernie.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Thursday, August 12, 2004 issue of the Hungry Horse News . . .
Congressman Denny Rehberg has asked the International Joint Commission to get involved in a coal bed methane dispute between British Columbia and Montana.
The Canadian province plans to auction off leases for coal bed methane development in coal fields about 15 miles north of Glacier National Park.
In a letter dated Aug. 10, Montana's only congressman asked Secretary of State Colin Powell and Pierre Pettigrew, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to petition the IJC.
The IJC is an independent bi-national organization established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its purpose is to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters and to advise Canada and the United States on related questions.
A host of Montana interests have raised concerns that coal bed methane development in the North Fork of the Flathead and the Kootenai drainages would harm both Montana fish and wildlife.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, August 11, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Montana's lone congressional representative has asked federal officials in both Canada and the United States to interrupt British Columbia's sale of coalbed methane fields, pending substantial environmental study.
Republican Denny Rehberg sent letters Tuesday to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew, asking that they work together to implement an international study before the gas leases are sold on Aug. 25.
Previously, both of Montana's senators requested similar upfront study, and Gov. Judy Martz petitioned Ottawa to intervene in the provincial plans. The Flathead Basin Commission - made up of federal, state and tribal agency leaders - also asked for upfront data collection, as did the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and the town of Fernie, British Columbia.
"The date is looming and this may be our last resort," Rehberg said of his request for study by the International Joint Commission. "Gov. Martz last month urged Canada to study the impact of methane drilling before allowing exploratory development so close to the headwaters of the Flathead River, but her common sense request has been ignored."
At issue are potential gas fields north of Glacier National Park, as well as fields above Koocanusa Reservoir. Downstream interests worry that methane production in British Columbia could impact Montana water quality and migration routes for wildlife.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Friday, August 6, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
A leader of Canada's methane gas industry called for caution this week, saying British Columbia shouldn't move too fast in its push to develop gas fields north of Glacier National Park.
"The concept of fast-tracking a project like this makes no sense," Michael Gatens told Canada's National Post. "These kinds of projects in such environmentally sensitive areas are going to take a lot of time to even make the decision to develop."
Gatens chairs the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas, a trade group with a mission to "support the exploration and development" of methane and other gas resources.
He also is CEO of MGV Energy Inc., a Calgary-based coalbed methane producer.
And those strong industry affiliations are exactly why eyebrows lifted on both sides of the border when he announced his position in the national press.
"I feel totally vindicated in the position we've been taking," said Ted Ralfe, a resident of Fernie, British Columbia, and member of Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane. "Our position has been that the precautionary principle should guide this exploration. And basically, that's what the industry itself is saying should happen."
In fact, what industry is saying by way of Gatens is that a minimum of three to five years of environmental study will be needed before the province entertains any ideas of gas field development.
During that time, he told the Missoulian, scientific study - including some test wells - should help pin down baseline data, "the kind of data that absolutely needs to be collected."
That is pretty much in line with requests from concerned downstream residents in Montana, and also jibes with a study commissioned by British Columbia's government.
That report, prepared by Summit Environmental Consultants Ltd. for the province's Ministry of Energy and Mines, indicated a current lack of scientific information about the areas in which the province proposes gas exploration.
"This is potentially a critical information gap," the report concludes, "and baseline water quality monitoring will very likely be needed for at least three years before CBG (coalbed gas) development."
But British Columbia's government has dismissed the report as "their professional opinion," saying the province's auction of methane fields will continue as scheduled, closing Aug. 25.
Read the entire article . . .
The Flathead Coalition is now on-line. We've placed a link to their site in the "Related Links" section.
The Flathead Coalition is a joint U.S.-Canadian organization working to protect the transboundary water quality of the North Fork of the Flathead River. It was originally formed in 1974 out of concern that a giant coal mine might be dug just six miles northwest of Glacier National Park and pollute the North Fork. Their efforts resulted in the Flathead River Basin Environmental Impact Study, the creation of the Flathead Basin Commission, and the Flathead reference to the International Joint Commission. The IJC's study board reported that the proposed mine would harm the environment and recommended that the mine not be developed.
The Flathead Coalition was reorganized and reinvigorated this year in reponse to a renewed coal mining threat and subsequent plans for a coalbed methane extraction operation in the watershed.
For addtional background on the Flathead Coalition, see their website, as well as the following articles we've posted on this site over the past few months:
Coalition meets against mining in Canada
Flathead Coalition regroups to fight mine
Flathead Coalition Revives in Response to Canadian Coal Mine, Coalbed Methane Plans